Elves_ Once Walked with Gods Part 24

Auum crouched low behind the walls, his hands over his ears. If any orders were coming, no one could hear them. A great pall of smoke was rising from the gatehouse. He could see his brothers and sisters, ripped open and dismembered, lying on the parapet. Blood smeared every surface.

Another volley struck home. A projectile slammed into the wall right in front of Auum. Steel bent inwards, stone was shoved back. Auum was thrown from the rampart. He tried to orient his body as it spun helplessly under the force of the blow. The pitted ground of the courtyard rushed to meet him. He managed to turn into the impact, rolling over one shoulder, absorbing much of it. But his legs were not under control and they took him into a bruising tumble before he came to a stop fully seventy feet from where he had been crouched.

Auum pushed himself to his feet, staggering under sudden pain. He looked down. A thick splinter of wood jutted from his left boot. Blood seeped. He tested his weight on it. Not good. His hands were sc.r.a.ped raw and his leggings torn to shreds. His body armour had saved his torso from major damage.

Auum looked up at the rampart. Projectiles were dropping onto it and down into the courtyard. He kept staring as he moved towards whatever shelter he could find in the lee of the walls. There was no order up there. Elves were turning from the enemy, running to stair and ladder. Bodies were thick on the ground around him. Most were not moving. Others were already running for the keep.

The barrage ceased. Smoke wreathed the bastion, clearing slowly. Into the quiet came the cries of the injured and wails of the dying. Prayers were uttered to Yniss and Shorth. Those still largely unhurt were regrouping in the centre of the courtyard. A drumming sound came from without. Garonin infantry. Running.

'Form up!' Auum spun round. Fresh pain raced up his leg from the impaled foot. It was Katyett. Standing with Pelyn. 'To me, brothers and sisters. Defend the keep.'

Auum hobbled towards them. A TaiGethen came to his shoulder, took some weight for him.

'Thank you, Olmaat,' he said.

'Can you still hold a blade?' asked Olmaat.

'Both of them. Just don't ask me to fight open hand.'

'That time is past, I think.'

They hurried to the lines of elves at the door of the keep. It still stood open against what they knew was to come but which had to be delayed for every possible moment. Perhaps three hundred stood before the keep. Al-Arynaar and TaiGethen. Lines eight deep. Weapons ready.

Katyett stood front and centre. Her Tai was gone, Jaleea injured and surely unable to survive. Takaar fled. So Pelyn was next to her. Arch of the Al-Arynaar with the new Arch of the TaiGethen. Some strength still remained. Elves stood with them. Courage endured.

There was a metallic rattle, rhythmic. The steel plating on the walls of the bastion was shaking. The eyes of most elves were on the gates. They shouldn't have been; the Garonin were climbing the walls. Gauntleted hands grasped the ruined rampart. Helmeted heads and armoured bodies appeared. Legs thumped down onto the parapet. Without pause, they jumped down into the courtyard and the flood of enemy stormed in like a wave breaching a dam.

'Steady,' called Katyett. 'Steady. On my order, front four ranks move up to engage.'

The Garonin covered the ground with frightening speed. Weapons were level. Barrels spat short tongues of flame. Defenceless elves were cut down.

'Engage!'

TaiGethen and Al-Arynaar ran forward. Unable to fight on the move, Auum stood with Olmaat in front of the door of the keep. TaiGethen, sprinting ahead of their Al-Arynaar comrades, flew at the Garonin soldiers. Blades flashed. Enemies fell. A roar rose among the defenders. A release of anger, an expression of frustration and shock.

Katyett slammed both feet into the face plate of a Garonin soldier, bearing him to the ground. One of her blades sliced across his throat. The other swept low, chopping into the ankles of another enemy. Katyett powered up, her first blade chopping into the gut of a third. Her second blade came down on the neck of the one she had crippled.

The Garonin could not track her movements. Her speed confused them. Her strength surprised them and her will baffled them. But the elves were so few, the TaiGethen fewer still amongst them. Weapons fire intensified. Garonin and elf alike were cut down in the blizzard. The Al-Arynaar in front of the keep made to move up.

'No.' Olmaat's voice was strong. 'Withdraw. Get inside the keep. This battle is done.'

And it was. But Katyett was deep in the fight. Pelyn, with ten Al-Arynaar, was forcing a path towards her. There was a shouted exchange. The elves disengaged, those that could.

'Back!' shouted Olmaat. 'Back into the keep. Defend the bore.' The gates crashed in. The Tul-Kenerit was truly laid open. The machines began to roll in. Weapons fire skipped and cracked off the walls of the keep. There were screams from within. The keep was full of elves waiting to leave.

'We need someone down at the gate. We just need people through. As many as can travel,' said Auum.

'Go,' said Olmaat.

'Not me. Ferille?' The door guard turned. 'Get down to the gate. Do everything you can to get as many through as you can. Try to avoid panic. Hard, I know. Tell them we will give them as much time as we can. And Ferille. Don't leave yourself behind. When the time comes don't hesitate. Go through.'

The last of the TaiGethen ran in on a hail of fire. Inside, waiting to descend, ordinary elves were already falling prey to the panic Auum had sought to avoid. Katyett dived through the door, Garonin after her.

'Close the door!' called Olmaat.

He ducked a swinging fist and thumped a blade into a Garonin gut. The soldier staggered back, colliding with the closing door. Auum threw a jaqrui, the blade cutting deep into the top of his helmet. The enemy sagged down. The door clanged shut. Elves surged over the marooned Garonin. Brief silence in the entrance hall was punctuated by hard breathing echoing into the rafters.

Lantern light illuminated a cold steel room, circular and with a wide spiral staircase leading down into a brightly lit s.p.a.ce, noisy with the voices of ordinary elves desperate to escape. They were packed in tight and the tunnels through which they had arrived would be crowded with more. Below them, the bore. A three hundred foot deep hole at the bottom of which was the gateway to Calaius. It was this that the Garonin desired and which the elves dare not let them take or Calaius would also be laid waste.

The gate was maintained by forces none but Takaar understood and which would collapse should he pa.s.s through it. And while a collapse would stall the Garonin, it would maroon a huge number of elves too.

The moment's calm was undermined by the fear of the civilians below. What was coming was as inevitable as it was unstoppable. The Garonin machines began to pound the door of the keep. Auum spun round at the sound of running feet below them, at the base of the spiral stair.

'No! Katyett, they're trying to get back down the tunnels.' Auum leaned over to shout his warning. 'You're going the wrong way. Take the ladder down the bore!'

'Al-Arynaar. Twenty detail. Get down there. Keep the people going down the ladder,' ordered Pelyn. 'Methian. You're leading. Move!'

The barrage on the door reached a deafening clamour. From below, the shrieks of terrified elves echoed up. It sounded like a stampede down there. No one who faced the door spoke. Huge dents had been beaten in the four-inch-thick steel. Like great fists were striking again and again. The fists of G.o.ds. The first tear appeared dead centre of the door. Daylight streamed in. Immediately, the barrage focused on the weak point.

'Not long now,' said Olmaat.

Behind them, panic deepened. A sheet of light fled up the bore. A second followed it and lastly a series of sharp flickers. Auum's heart skipped a beat. An Al-Arynaar appeared in front of Katyett and Pelyn.

'The gateway is failing. Takaar ran through and now it's coming apart.'

Katyett stared at Pelyn and at her warriors. Auum could see it in her eyes. They had lost. Projectiles fell like an avalanche on the door. The tear had become a hole an elf could walk through upright. A large missile flew through and slammed into the far wall, smas.h.i.+ng stone and causing a fall of beams and rubble.

Katyett swallowed. She nodded.

'It is done,' she said. 'Warriors of Hausolis. We can do no more than sacrifice our lives to no avail. The Garonin machines will kill us at distance. Your choice. Go to your peoples and stand until they come for you. Or go through the gateway now and live to fight the day the Garonin find us again. Travel to Calaius and help the elves of Hausolis build anew. My advice: live today. Orderly descent. Go.'

Olmaat wrapped an arm around Auum's shoulder.

'I will not leave you behind,' he said.

Auum and Olmaat ran together. Down the spiral stairs and onto the floor around the bore. Other Tai and Al-Arynaar ran to the panicking, fleeing elves to try and turn them around, to guide them to safety. Auum stared at them while the light from the gateway flickered and faded.

'Run! Go!'

Warrior elves, many with civilians in tow, swarmed down the ladder. More crowded the head, desperate for a foot on the first rung. Elves urged those on the ladder to move faster. More and more crowded on, pus.h.i.+ng down on those below.

'Ease the pressure!' shouted Katyett.

With a rending wail, the great steel door gave way. A torrent of heavy footsteps could be heard. Garonin in the keep. All pretence at order dissolved. Elves surged onto the rungs. They climbed over each other or packed into the tunnels to escape back into the forests of Hausolis.

Auum released himself from Olmaat.

'We have to buy more time,' he said and trotted back towards the spiral stair. 'TaiGethen!'

A hundred elves turned and packed back towards the Garonin. The first enemy soldiers were descending. Weapons fire rattled down the stairs. Olmaat raced past Auum, clubbing his sword into the lower leg of an enemy. The Garonin pitched down the stairs. TaiGethen finished him. More filled the s.p.a.ce. The density of fire increased. TaiGethen were blown aside. Garonin jumped down from the hall, feet slamming onto the ground by the bore.

Auum ducked. A Garonin weapon b.u.t.t missed him by a hair. Auum threw himself forward, grappling the Garonin's legs. The soldier fell back. Auum crawled up his body and plunged a short blade through his eye slit. A weapon rang out. Something smashed into Auum's side spinning him over. Olmaat was by him. His blades whispered in the air above Auum's head. A Garonin body pitched over the bal.u.s.trade and dropped onto the packed floor, hitting friend and foe alike.

'Time for you to leave, my friend.'

Olmaat grabbed his left arm and pulled. Pain filled Auum's body. He gasped but did not let go. TaiGethen blades were all around them. Weapons fire clanged and sparked against metal, thumped into defenceless bodies and ripped away limb and head.

'Go!' yelled Olmaat. 'All of you. Go!'

The TaiGethen disengaged. Down on the ladder, elves fought to descend. The weak and unlucky fell. All around the edge of the bore, TaiGethen shunned the ladder and climbed down the walls.

'Can you do that?' asked Olmaat.

His free hand whipped out, his blade ran through a Garonin side and up under his ribs. Olmaat kicked him aside. They reached the edge of the bore. Garonin were everywhere.

'I'll be fine,' said Auum.

Olmaat released him. He almost fell. He took a shuddering breath and hauled himself into the bore. TaiGethen were pouring down the walls now. Garonin fire chased down after them, raked the ladder. Elves juddered and fell. The survivors pressed harder. Al-Arynaar and TaiGethen fought around the lip. Garonin fell, tumbling to smash into the floor of the gateway chamber. Too many warriors joined them.

All the while, the light of the gateway guttered and spat, sending lurid shadows up the bore. Like all the Tais, Auum went head first. The bore was rough cut. Handholds were easy. He kept his body flat against the rock, letting his clothes supply friction to slow his descent. His side ached. Blood flowed from both of his wounds.

Auum began to feel light-headed. He resisted the temptation to speed up. Two TaiGethen came to his sides. Another dropped in front of him.

'Just keep moving, brother,' said one.

Moments later, weapons fire took her from the walls and thrust her to the ground. Auum cried out. His arms shook and his mind clouded.

'Go on,' he said. 'Leave me, save yourselves.'

The other two ignored him and he was too relieved to thank them. He followed the hand- and footholds of the Tai in front of him all the way to the ground. Ahead the gateway wavered violently, steadied and then s.h.i.+mmered.

'Run! Run! Get inside.'

Auum was half carried across the floor. It was full of running elves. At the face, a line stood to keep back the Garonin.

'Let me stand,' he said. 'I can still fight.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' said Olmaat, next to him once more.

He took Auum from his charges and ran him through the gate. The last thing he heard was the sound of weapons fire, the shrieks of elves and the calm orders of warriors facing certain death.

'Shorth, embrace your souls.'

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Auum knew what Takaar was thinking. Or what a sane Takaar would have been thinking. There was no dodging who had triggered the rout.

'With me standing, we might have stood for hours more,' Takaar whispered eventually. 'Think how many more thousands might have been saved.'

'Maybe,' said Auum.

But he knew the whole truth.

Takaar's eyes narrowed and he gestured angrily over his shoulder.

'I might have known you'd chirp up about now. Don't you ever tire of reminding me?'

'Takaar,' said Auum.

'No, I thought not. And I will not do it. You think if I haven't found the courage in ten years I might suddenly do so now? Your wheedling voice cannot make me do anything I don't care to do. We'll need to bring some poisons I've been perfecting.'

Takaar stared at Auum. The young TaiGethen blinked.

'What's he saying?' he hedged.

Takaar's shoulders drooped.

'It's as if you can't hear him at all,' he chided. 'And perhaps you can't hear me either. I said, we'll need to bring some poisons I've been working on. Some of the better burn salves too. So I'll be needing your help.'

What cascaded through Auum then fell nothing short of pure joy.

'You're coming!' he said, the sound of his voice setting animals to flight in the nearby brush.

'I would have thought that was obvious.'

Auum nodded. 'Of course, of course. Thank you. The whole elven race will thank you.'

'Hardly,' said Takaar. 'And you just need to give it up. I am not going to throw myself from the cliffs. I have dreamed up another and more satisfying way to die. Care to join us?'

'I . . .' began Auum before realising to whom Takaar was speaking.

'You know this has nothing to do with redemption or regaining my position or anything. You've known me ten years and you still don't realise I don't care for such things.'

Auum paused before speaking, waiting for clarification. None appeared forthcoming. Takaar strode away to his hut and began selecting various pots. The conversation was clearly over.

'Could I ask why you are doing this?'

Takaar stared at Auum. It was disconcerting. It unpicked him from the inside out. Takaar thrust some pots and a net bag fas.h.i.+oned from old strong liana at him.

'Pack these. I'll explain how they work on the way.' He moved to his hammock and picked up a cloth-covered bundle. He unwrapped it, exposing back scabbards. One still retained its blade. 'It should be obvious why I am going. It's because he said that I would lack the courage to do so.'

Auum was having trouble getting used to the constant raising and deflating of his hopes.

'Not for your brothers and sisters? Not for Katyett?'

Takaar snorted. 'Hardly. I have worked out these years gone that I know nothing. But I am irritated that my life's work is being undone. And I am most certainly selfish enough, and brave enough, though he would say otherwise, to see it un-undone.'

It would have to do. Auum set about making the camp tidy and checking his meagre gear. He found Takaar staring at him again when he was about to kick earth over the fire.