The Ancient King

Act 15

The bellowing sound of a horn flooded through the grim air.

Armour clanked together; swords and shields bashed: helmets knocked about, men shouted, stirrups pulled and yanked, horses neighed.
The orchestra of war.

The castle stood like a fossilised beast in the evening hue, an unearthly mist seemed to wrap itself tightly around it.

"Move the tower!"
The colossal form moved across the land, a siege tower of magnificent size.
Archers lined up, "keep your eyes on the battlements!"
A voice echoed into the camp.

"Are you ready Merek?"
Pauliver strutted over, looked as brutishly horrific as always.

"No, it's just more men we need to kill".

"Well maybe by this tonight you'll see The Ancient King or his body!"
Pauliver cackled, Merek just stared at him. He wasn't in the mood for jokes.

No one seemed to be fighting, no archer had let off an arrow and no man had climbed the battlements.

"Think they're all starved out, maybe dead?" Questioned Pauliver.

"No," Merek sharply replied, "They just have fewer numbers, want to wait until they have at least some form of hope".

"Ready the ladders!"
Another voice.

Merek could feel anxiety creep its way into his chest, he tried his very best to hold it down. He put his mind elsewhere, Éthéré.
He hadn't thought about her in years, he had once tried to bury the thought even going so far as to forget what she looked like.
Her body still laid in Dune Wvronikopf, he dreaded going back and yet now after Kzakeny. The thought of her stirred feelings deep within him, that he had once lost.

The evening was quickly dying, twilight had spread its arms around the world

"Advance!"
Soldiers began to climb ladders, finally, enemies on the battlements appeared.

They pelted all sorts of things even furniture, in a meagre attempt to push as many soldiers off the ladders as possible. Few archers also appeared, however, they could do little too nothing towards the incredibly armoured men climbing the ladders.

The Silver Stone and Shishkan archers let loose, their arrows taking the enemies down by the dozen.

"Haha look at that!"
Pauliver shouted marching over to Merek.
"Now that is beautiful, overkill don't you think Merek?"

"Yes, it is, my own men could've taken this damn castle. It's the king's fault, he threw his soldiers at us in the village and Aella rode through them like a wave, they didn't stand a chance and now this is what is left? It almost seems harsh"

"Ah Aella, a feisty lass indeed, saved us all that day well come on might as well get on those ladders and join the attack, and look! There goes the siege tower, the Silver Stones are already taking the battlements!"

"We're going up the siege tower, not the ladders!"
Merek placed his helmet on his head and moved.

It seemed to take almost an entire day to get to the castle walls, he wasn't sure if this was due to the length of the camp or his own anxiety.