Ten of Swords (Draft Only)

Chapter 34

With a horrific boom, the demons rammed the portcullis. It bent under the force of the cut tree trunk so that each hit brought it closer to breaking. Arrows rained down from above, sticking into the flesh of the children of Hel. When they fell, they became ash and mist as they returned to their mother's realm. Another would spring forth from behind the skeletons and walking corpses to replace their fallen kin. The swinging of the massive ram would not be interrupted.

It struck again.

The portcullis would not last much longer, and once it had been broken through, they would make short work of the wooden gates. Reports came from all four of the gates of the outer wall. Soon the invaders would breach the outer city.

Commander Egons gave his generals leave to order the retreat of all but the gatehouse guards when they saw fit. They would need time to take up their new positions, and as the invading forces would be resistant to scolding water, there wasn't much time that could be bought by pouring it through the murder holes of the gate house and onto those below. It might do some damage to the rotting ones, but that would be it. Old bones and the heated bodies of Hel's born wouldn't be bothered in the slightest.

Slowly, soldiers were pulled back from the outer walls.

The portcullis burst open, and the infernal troops moved forward to begin ramming the gate itself. Cracks and crunches came as the ram collided with the gate. It would not hold long.

All but the gate guards left to reposition. At once they regretted their choice of profession, having once upon a time talked themselves into thinking a siege would never come. The city was too well defended, they thought. Not worth the effort. It was forged by mortal battle and had emerged victorious in the war of the three brothers. Springalds were built into every gatehouse, and the streets were narrow and winding. Reaching the castle was a long, difficult uphill battle which left solders exhausted and vulnerable to attack from defenders above. Yet this was no mortal conflict.

"They will tell stories of this day," Hereskel mused. "They will sing as if Hel herself came to visit, and weave tales of heroic sacrifice and heroic triumph. Even though it will come to an end in the lower city and go no further."

In the streets below, word spread that the gates would soon fall. The people stood ready, hands shaking, keeping their loved ones behind them. Enough people had talked so that almost everyone knew where the thieves were holding out and many had sought them out for protection. Miellena's faithful, Elise, and Maeve had helped a few of them get there, and would stand guard with the rest.

Crunch.

One after another, the gates burst open. Wood splintered and blew out from the force of the final impacts and sprayed the streets. The clattering of bones grew monstrous in volume as the animated dead pushed past each other and flooded in from behind the demons, wild and hungry for violence. Soldiers pulled up the ladders that they had used to get onto rooftops and started firing into the current of corpses, hoping to thin out the herd before it could do any real damage. Ivory forms surged up against walls and barricades as they were propelled forward from the force of the advancing troops behind them, clawing out for the mortal soldiers that they could not reach.

They tumbled over each other and formed piles by the edges of the building, and horrifyingly, started to climb each other to reach for the fleshy defenders. They got caught in the gaps between each other's ribs and became tangled, but a few sprinted up the bone piles and jumped for the roof edges. Once the piles where high enough, they reached high enough to drag themselves up and close the distance between themselves and the fragile humans.

"Keep them back, lads!" The general called out.

Swearing to themselves, the soldiers dropped their ranged weapons and reached for their blades and maces. The bows and crossbows clattered on the rooftops, and several slid down and fell to the streets below. Since it was difficult for the skeletons to climb, there wasn't enough of them making it to the roves to overwhelm the soldiers, but enough to keep them busy.