Firefly Light

Chapter 10

Dolph Garon was bored. He hated guard duty. Tramping back and forth on the stupid wall walk, looking over the parapet to make sure this grubby hole in the ground wasn't going to be attacked. Pfah! As if that could happen. Hell, Baron Spencer had just marched out of Deephaven this morning with nearly three thousand warriors. He didn't think they had much to guard against. Unfortunately, the Baron had left Captain Lawson in charge of the five hundred guards left in the town and he took himself and his job way too seriously. Garon stopped and leaned against the wall, watching a deer run out of the woods into the clearing around the town, and then a couple more followed the first. They looked scared and had their white tails up. He wondered what had spooked them.....wolf maybe?

Then he heard it. What could that be? It sounded like a faint drumming sound, and now he could also hear something strident and high pitched. He had never heard anything like it. He strained to hear it at first, but the sound quickly grew louder, and more ominous. He exchanged glances with Tolbert, also on guard duty, who looked just as mystified as he. "What the hell is that?" called Tolbert. Dolph just shook his head, "Have no idea." As they listened, the sound grew closer.

Then they could see something coming down the road toward the town. As it came into view, Dolph realized with shock that what they were watching was an oncoming army.......and it was not Baron Spencer returning with his army. When they were clearly in view, he recognized the uniforms. They were the same uniforms that the guards at the towns they had been raiding wore......this was the enemy and they were at their gates! What had happened to the army that had just left hours ago? Tolbert looked back at him with his mouth open. "This isn't good," he said. They both rushed to the alarm bell attached to the wall between them, Dolph reaching it first and started ringing the bell with all his might. As he rang the bell, both of them watched in dismay as the army marched off the road, outside of bow range and started to deploy in the field between the forest and the town. The accompanying drums and bagpipes filled him with dread. He would have run and left the rest to their fate if he had a way out, but the only thing behind them was the town and the cavern. There was no escape.

Those left to guard the town started to man the wall, giving Dolph grief for ringing the bell as they climbed the stairs, until they looked out onto the field. Then their jaws dropped, their anger now replaced by the fear in their eyes. Captain Lawson finally showed up, running up the steps to see what the problem was, "What the hell is that racket and what is wrong with you Dolph, drunk on duty again? This time I'll........oh, shit." The captain's face fell when he looked out at the still deploying enemy ..........and more were continuing to come down the road, their menacing drums and bagpipes only adding to the men's fear. With the alarm bell finally still, they all watched disbelievingly as the army took up its assault positions. This was like no army they had ever seen, certainly not like the army that had trudged out of this town only hours before. The Otani army moved to their places in step, marching to the cadence of the drums. The orders of their officers and sergeants hung crisply in the air, each row coming to a halt at the proper place and turning as one to face their walls......and them. Someone noted that they were carrying assault ladders with them. The mighty Baron and his army were nowhere to be seen.

Lawson looked at the Otani army through his old, beat up binoculars. He saw that their uniforms were not perfectly clean; there was blood and bandaged wounds showing on almost all of them. "They have just been in combat," he said, "I.......I don't think we will be seeing the Baron again." The shocked looks from the men on the wall said it all. "We should surrender then!", responded Dolph. Lawson backhanded him. "Shut up, you coward! We still have an army coming out of Morgans Retreat moving in our direction, we need to get word to them. Ellis, Harkness, we have two horses left in this camp, have them saddled and leave out the side gate. Slip out of this trap to the north and find the Morgans Retreat force. Let them know what is happening here. They can catch these bastards in the rear if they move quickly enough." "Will do," responded Ellis. The two men left the wall to follow Lawson's orders.