The Box Ranell gazed down from the battlement atop the tower. He watched the battering ram being wheeled across the field on its way to the main gate. Glancing down to where the moat had been, the anxiety began to well inside him. He knew that it was only a matter of time now. How can we hope to stop that thing? With the moat completely filled in all they have to do is wheel it right up to the portcullis and knock it down. He turned to his lieutenant. "Have the men ready the ram guard." "Yes sir, right away." The man scurried off down the stairway shouting to the men below in the bailey. Ranell returned his attention to the activity outside the walls. Panning around, he viewed the corollary of the siege that was now in its third week. Bodies lay strewn around the castle in a neat little circle four hundred yards or so deep. These grizzly buoys reminded all of the range capable by the defending archers. Some of the deceased had been there since the first day of the siege allowing the summer sun to take its toll. The stench of rotting flesh, animal dung and torch fuel amalgamated to form a most putrid odor when the wind blew just right. Watching the siege engine inch its way towards the main gate, he decided he had enough time to go see the regent. He briskly strode to the stairway and made his way down towards the keep. His plate armor clattered as he walked across the bailey. The men-at-arms were scampering in every direction making preparations to repel the invaders should they breech the outer wall. Ranell approached the massive one of Ranell’s lieutenants burst into the chamber. "Pardon me for the intrusion my lord. Captain, the battering ram is almost at the gate." "Is the gate guard in place?" Ranell asked. "Yes captain." "Very well. I shall be down shortly." "Captain, there’s something else." "Well, what is it? Speak up man." "A rider has come forth claiming to be the king’s nephew." Ranell and the regent turned to look at each other. "He’s here," exasperated the regent. "Close the door behind us," Ranell told the regent as he stormed towards the door. Obviously he wants to talk. Perhaps I can convince him to spare the women and children at least. Ranell’s lieutenant shadowed him as he made his way to the top of the tower on the outer wall. Peering down from the battlement he saw a knight dressed entirely in red astride a giant fire Kestrel. His facial features were obscured due to the visor on his helmet. "If you are the man claiming to be the nephew of the king then reveal your face to be recognized." Looking up towards Ranell, the scarlet figure slowly he reached up with both hands and removed his helmet tucking it smartly under one arm. "Are you satisfied Ranell? Even if you aren‘t the time has come to dispense with formalities and deal with the issue at hand. I want the box. Give it to me now and I‘ll spare all of your lives." "And if we don’t?" "If you don’t then I will personally disembowel every woman, behead every man and quarter every child within those walls." How can one negotiate with such savagery? He will never agree to mercy for anyone. Ranell looked down the length of the battlement on the wall below. His archers stood ready, but he saw the despondency in their faces. Will they stand behind me if I choose to fight such a hopeless battle or will they falter under Inok’s threats? Seeing the battering ram poised at the gate, he lowered his eyes in deliberation. "You have no more time. What is your answer?" Lifting his eyes to meet Inok’s face, he knew that he was not bluffing but mustered his courage to do what he knew he must. "If it is blood you seek, then it is blood you shall have." A great roar went up from within the castle as the defenders cheered the captain of the guard. Inok’s face turned to rage as he donned his helmet and took flight on his steed. The first shockwave of the battering ram reverberated through out the castle. Loosing their first volley in unison, the archers on the battlements felled many of the attackers below. Ranell looked on as a sea of armed men lead by catapults and siege towers crested the outlying hills. Pouring into the valley, the ocean of evil let out a horrific battle cry. The catapults stopped just past the base of the hills while the rest continued on to the stronghold. Within moments boulders set ablaze with torch fuel where raining down on the defenders. "Get some more archers over the gate and bring me my axe!" Ranell barked. Ranell raced down from the tower and onto the outer wall battlements, as the first siege tower was almost in place. Bolts from Inok’s crossbowmen where whirring angrily over head. Ranell’s heart rate quickened as the wooden scaffold coupled to the outer wall several yards in front of him. "Captain, your axe!" A voice called from down in the bailey. Spinning, Ranell reached out both his hands to receive the double bladed weapon flung up to him from the man below. Without breaking his stride, he caught it and swung hard to his right at the assailant charging him from the corner of his eye. The hefty iron blade connected to the man’s rib cage under his raised arm wielding a mace. Blood spewed from his side as bones shattered from the weight of the weapon. Ranell had no time to dislodge the axe from the man as Inok’s mercenaries surged from the siege tower onto the wall. Drawing his long sword, he charged headlong into the ever-growing mass of chain mail clad mace men. He swung feverishly, scything a path closer to the siege tower. Blood spattered with his every stroke as the wall was fast becoming choked with bodies. A boulder ripped into the wall behind him knocking him off his feet. Rolling onto his back, one of the mercenaries lunged at him with a war hammer clasped in both hands above his head. Ranell saw the man’s exposed abdomen and thrust the point of his sword upward impaling the man with a shriek. He placed his booted foot on the man’s chest and recovered his weapon. Staggering to his feet he heard the unmistakable crash of the main gate giving way. A great howl arose from Inok’s men as they swarmed through the shattered portcullis and onto the inner grounds. I must get to the keep before Inok does. Ranell sprinted down the length of the wall with a horde of berserkers nipping at his heels. Rounding the stairs, he emerged onto the bailey glancing over his shoulder. The stream of barbarians rushed down from the battlements uniting with its sister tributary flooding through the main gate to form one mighty river. The conduit of evil rolled forward towards the keep at the center of the castle. "Get inside and close the door behind me!" Ranell shouted to the guards of the keep as he drew near. As he ran inside, collapsing to the ground, the guards slammed the door bolting it with a massive piece of timber. While gasping for breath he heard the mob outside collide with the immense oak door. It buckled but did not yield. Catching his composure, he started up the winding stairs. "They’re coming!" He bellowed as he blasted through the door and into the regent’s chambers. A look of terror gripped the regent’s face as he pulled a dagger from his robes. Outside the window Inok could be seen descending into the courtyard on his fire Kestrel. Standing silent, the two men listened for signs of their imminent destruction. The screams of the town’s people pierced the stone walls of the keep as Inok made good on his promise. My God, have they no mercy? "Ranell Rabe, captain of the guard of the city of Jaida. Surrender unto me what is rightfully mine and you and the regent shall live to see another sunrise," Inok commanded from the bailey below. Ranell went to the window to rebut the crimson aggressor. "Inok, know this. I will dismember any man who attempts to enter this keep!" "I have given you your last chance. You have sealed your own fate." With a nod of Inok’s head the pounding on the entrance to the keep resumed. The splintering of the wooden door could be heard followed by men scuffling to make headway. Backing away from the window, Ranell poised himself between the open door and the box. The cries of the two inner guards on the ground floor chilled Ranell’s spine to numbness. The regent turned to Ranell. "Ranell, whatever happens I want you to know that you have done your duty to your king and country." Ranell’s heart raced as jangling footsteps echoed in the stairwell. They’ll be here soon. You know what you have to do. Be strong. The first two infiltrators appeared in the open door. Letting out a yell so forceful that spittle sprayed from his mouth, Ranell charged forward with his sword raised. The berserkers tried to rush into the chamber, but were not fast enough. Mustering all his strength, Ranell swung his long sword severing the man on the left at the waist. The blade’s momentum carried on half way into the man on the right coming to rest just shy of his navel. Convulsing, the man throwing his head back violently. His mouth became a wellspring of blood, surging with a gurgle sporadically as he tried to speak. Three more of Inok’s underlings reached the top and assailed into the room. Ranell retrieved his steel just in time to wave it around uselessly as all three men tackled him. Stealing his balance, the four men clattered to the floor with Ranell on bottom helpless as a turtle on its back. The regent leapt at the pile with dagger in hand only to find the tip of Inok’s sword primed at his throat. "I would advise against any such course of action," he said with a grin. Dropping the dagger to the floor, the regent emitted a whimper. His head hung low in defeat. Finding their feet, Inok’s minions clasped Ranell on either arm bringing him up with them. Inok lowered his sword and motioned for the regent to back against the wall. "I tried so very hard to avoid this bloodbath. If only you two had come to your senses and realized whom the crown belongs to." "The crown is where it should be Inok," The regent snapped. Rage swept across Inok’s face. His red gauntleted hand screeched as his grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. "You would deny me my destiny, my birthright! Your insolence will be tolerated no longer!" he snarled, stepping toward the regent thrusting his sword through his abdomen. The regent’s eyes widened with the penetration of the sword. Gasping for breath, he clutched at Inok’s breastplate. "You bastard!" Ranell spat as he struggled to break free of his captors. Retracting the blade from the regent, Inok let his body slouch to the floor. He spun and started towards the box as the last bit of the regent’s life dripped from the tip of his weapon. "At last, that which will complete my conquest." Raising his sword, he brought the pummel down on the box’s lock with a heave. The lock snapped and dropped to the stone floor. He sheathed his weapon and gripped the lid to the box with both hands. His eyes were alight with anticipation as the small hinges creaked slightly. Ranell vied for a better view, as he himself was curious as to its contents. Inok’s hand emerged from the box with a scroll of parchment tied with a dark blue velvet ribbon clenched in his armored fist. "It must be some arcane magic of great power," he said with a devilish smile. Loosing the ribbon, he unrolled the document examining it carefully. A look of bewilderment flushed his face. The runes on the paper were in an ancient dialect long since forgotten by mortal man. "I’m not quite sure what it says, but if my studies serve me correctly it says something about a great castle becoming a prison and being swallowed up by the earth." He turned to his men with elation. "This scroll must be speaking of the king’s castle at Killebrew. This enchantment will destroy the king and his army garrisoned there." Quickly he returned to the scroll and began reading it aloud. The ancient words not spoken for eons resounded throughout the chamber. Their very essence flowed from Inok’s hands into the surrounding structure. Uttering the last words, he raised his head. "It is finished. The kingdom will have a new sovereign by sunrise tomorrow. Take him out into the bailey so that he may be hanged properly. I am truly sorry that you will not live to see my coronation. Good bye Ranell." Ranell could hear Inok bellowing with laughter as his mercenaries dragged him down the staircase and out into the courtyard where the rest of his vile army was waiting for the victory celebration to begin. Their evil mirth tainted the air as they lugged huge portions of meat to the fires to be roasted. All the while they sang songs of battles past that dotted the road to Jaida. Ogling the gallows as they got closer, a pulsation of fear stuck Ranell. His captors bound his hands behind him with rope. I have failed you my king. Please forgive me. He was shoved up the steps and onto the platform where the executioner placed the noose around his neck and pulled it taught. Ranell watched petrified as the murderer placed his hand on the lever that would send him into the abyss. Just as he started to pull back on the handle a whizzing sound, lasting only a split second, could be heard. The point of the arrow entered the executioner’s chest with a thump. In disbelief, Ranell scanned quickly around the courtyard but saw nothing. Two more arrows descended, slaying one man and wounding another. There after their numbers increased. Five, followed by fifteen, then fifty, it was like a massive rainstorm starting out as a shower and then turning into a deluge as one got closer to the eye of the cloudburst. Bedlam broke out in the bailey as the maelstrom of steel tipped death inundated Inok’s army. Shrugging his shoulders to the arrows, as if braving a storm of hail, Ranell glanced up to the top of the keep to see Inok standing confounded in the window. Darting from the window, he disappeared into the keep re-emerging on the ground floor in the blood-spattered doorway a short time later. Drawing his sword, he leaned forward to step onto the grounds of the courtyard to do battle once more. His foot never touched the earth in. Vines sprouted up from the soil all around the keep, growing to lengths that should have taken years to achieve in a matter of seconds. They twisted and interweaved as they shot up the length of the stone edifice engulfing it. Inok could be heard hacking frantically at the vines that had turned the doorway into a biological blockade. The vegetation merely regenerated itself two fold for every piece removed. Ranell flexed against his bonds that had been meant only to confine him long enough for his visit to the gallows. Freeing himself, he jumped clear of the platform dodging falling arrows all the while. Inok’s men where too preoccupied with their present predicament to notice him. Quickly looking around for something to arm himself with, Ranell noticed a flail next to a man felled by an arrow and decided to try for it. As he began to move, familiar trumpets rang out beyond the castle walls. The ground beneath his feet shook with the hammering of equestrian hooves. The king! The vanguard of the royal Killebrew cavalry, adorned in their usual hues of dark green, stampeded into the courtyard devouring a swathe through Inok’s men as they made their way to the keep. The faces of Ranell’s comrades were ablaze with rage as they beheld the butchery within the bailey. The tempest of arrows subsided with the arrival of the cavalry. The king’s men steadily increased in numbers within the castle walls dispatching Inok’s men at their leisure as they went. The king himself materialized from within the horde of horsemen and made for the keep at a full gallop. His steed reared and neighed as he came to an abrupt halt just short of the plant encased tower. He rose in his stirrups to speak. "Inok, son of my brother and insurrectionary traitor to the crown. Come forth to receive my decree." Faint rattling could be heard from within as Inok made his way back up to the regent’s chamber. A small gap in the vines covering the window allowed Inok’s face to be seen from the outside. "What treachery is this with magic most foul being loosed upon me?" "The treachery lies with you alone. In your blind pursuit of the throne you went willingly into my trap. I realized that you would one-day rebel against me. That was the whole purpose for Jaida’s being." "But the scroll? The curse written on it?" "I expected that you would assume the scroll was speaking of Killebrew and undoubtedly read it. That is why I chose the word Tokryr from the ancient Fruin dialect. I knew that you never studied this antiquated language. If you had you would know that Tokryr means tower of Jaida." Inok’s eyes widened as the implications of what the king revealed became apparent. He thrashed at the liana bars with his sword. "You lie old man! I am the legitimate king and as such I demand that you arrest the imposter and release me from this keep!" The tower began to sink as the ground on which it stood quickened inward. The noise was deafening as dust billowed out from the awesome spectacle. Inok’s screams echoed off the stone walls as his viewing aperture disappeared beneath the surface followed by the battlements at the summit. His screeches were quenched by the last wave of earth covering the spot where the keep had been. The only evidence that the building ever existed was the memory of those who saw it. Even the bloody soil reverted so that it matched the surrounding courtyard. The king dismounted and approached Ranell, who obligingly paid homage to his ruler. "Rise Ranell Rabe and be recognized. You have done an extraordinary service to your people and your king. For that I shall grant you the title of lord. My only regret is that so many had to be sacrificed in order to stop Inok. Sometimes a king must choose between evils." The remainder of Inok’s army was shackled together for the journey back to Killebrew. Turning, the king remounted his horse while Ranell did the same to a steed offered him by his brethren. The king paused to survey the massacre that littered the courtyard. "Sire, is everything all right?" Ranell asked. "Yes, quite. It’s just that... sometimes the choice is not an easy one."
Copyright © 2000 Nathan C Hedberg |