Sons of Ironstorm - Book 4: Griffon's Stand

Assault

At first, there was nothing that marked the Shadow's passage through the tree line. But as attention was focused on it, they began to notice how tree branches moved of their own accord, or how bushes would flatten then spring back into place without anything passing over them. The command to stay their weapon fire was swiftly passed in whispers along the walkway as warriors nervously shifted at seeing such strangeness.

He dropped out of the sky like a stone, a mountain eagle of such majestic wingspan and power many thought him a griffon at first. Then his shape was blurring and with a 'crunch' of shod boots against stone, the Wielder of the Star in full armor dropped to the walkway, the luminescent metal glowing softly in the darkness. Smoothly a massive war bow was unslung from off his shoulder, a span-long shaft fitted to its metal drawstring and drawn back to his cheek, all in one motion.

"Aven'sinala," he softly whispered, setting the prepared missile on fire with eldritch blue light. Then, with a loud hum, he released, sending the dart streaking towards the trees.

The night itself peeled back in failure as a seething line of fire appeared across the tree line, snarling into being from the point where Shawn's arrow struck some invisible object. It climbed as quickly as it spread until a section over twenty lengths and a length tall was on fire. Then, as quickly as it had come, the fire was gone, leaving broken and battered bodies in its wake. And an entire host of dark soldiers now revealed behind them.

"FIRE!" Patrik roared from where he now stood on the wall, his Wielder armor seething a quiet red. He too had a massive bow drawn and loaded. And hundreds of bowstrings sang as one to send a storm of death raining down on the stunned dark soldiers, scything them down like stalks of autumn grain. 

Taking advantage of the chaos, Charon threw a mist of sparkling dust into the air and barked a hard word of command, the spell sending a tingling ripple over the defenders before a hail of razor-sharp shards of ice were added to the rain of arrows down on the heads of the attacking dark soldiers. The hail thickened into a near blizzard as the handful of wizards Thundersong brought with her Chain Islands force added their magic to their master's.

Hearing the howls of dismay and pain rising from the dark host, Ciradaan grinned in sudden delight.

<<Surprise,>> he whispered. Then he was dropping hard onto the walkway as a massive stone sailed by just overhead, pushing through both the arrows and the magic hail to drop into the courtyard behind them with a crash.

Stone after stone, each a good arm span in diameter, sprang from partially hidden catapults with the harsh 'snap' of releasing vault lines to arc towards the waiting fortress and its intent defenders. Who crouched, tensing in anticipation of the massive rocks dropping in amongst them and smashing with jarring force into the wall. But, bow still in hand, the Wielder of the Star wasn't about to let that happen.

Nocking, drawing and releasing in the same motion, Shawn sent arrow after arrow into the night, each glowing with elven magic. Each hummed as it streaked through the air and each shattered a stone into gravel with a harsh snarling explosion at impact, tendrils of energy arcing away from where the arrow's steel head struck to punch into the stone, ripping it apart.

But as quickly as Shawn could destroy them, the dark soldiers launched more into the air. Grimly Patrik added his bow to his brothers, the two Wielders working to sweep the hurtling stones from the air before they could hammer into the Dagger's walls. And, for a time, they held the catapults at bay.

Seeing their siege engines fail to reach the fortress, harsh shouts of command echoed over the packed ranks and, howling at the top of their tortured throats, dark soldiers charged across the gap, scaling ladders in hand. Shawn felt a muscle in his jaw jump with tension at seeing a wave of dark soldiers rush forward, barely stifling the impulse to summon the power of the Weapon of Power attached to his backplate and swung the bow down instead.