Meeting The Enemy

Meeting The Enemy

 

We set out from the city during the twilight hours, the same time we had arrived back in Hollowdell the day before. Everyone knew the plan, albeit incredibly simple, chances were that it would work.

Each barracks was sending out a small convoy of men lead by their captain to a small section of farmland. Once there we would deal with any threat that was posed to the caravans and wait until they had stripped the land bare. After that we were to set the fields ablaze.

Razing everything in a storm of fire, yes, did sound rather horrible and more than just a little drastic. But it was necessary. As I had explained many times to the men, the crops could be resewn and the farmers could rebuild what they had lost, in time it would be as if nothing had happened.

It wasn’t raining so much now that I could strike back against Symonds.

“I can see their scout” Eugene mumbled beside me at some point.

He pointed over and at one of the buildings. For a long while I could see nothing, that was until the man he was pointing at moved and I caught sight of a silvery glint. The tiny amounts of light that still existed were just able to gather enough strength to reflect off his helmet.

“Well what’s the strategy, Lucius?” I asked, turning to the captain.

He didn’t reply just yet, instead the four men were crouched around me as if waiting for something. It was then I realised that they were waiting for me to give the order.

“You’re a lord now” said Lucius. “Milord, you order me to do as you desire, not the other way around”

“Correct me if I’m wrong but, I believe that I was of noble blood before yesterday when I revealed myself to the Duke” I said sternly. “And you had no quarrel with ordering me around before that”

“Yes Milord, but” Lucius started.

“But nothing has changed!” I interrupted him. “So what are your orders, sir?”

The four men continued to kneel around me in silence for a moment longer before I too lowered myself onto my knees. I could make out the shining white smiles of Eugene and Damon in the darkness as Lucius rose to his feet and nodded at me.

“Well in that case, are you in good with a bow whelp?” he asked with a smirk, offering me a bow he had been carrying over his back.

“I’m not the best shot, but neither am I a stranger to wielding one, sir” I replied.

“Good” he said shortly. “Go and deal with that scout, fire an arrow back in this direction to signal when you’re done”

I nodded and put the bow across my back, just about ready to run off when Lucius’ hand stopped me.

“And soldier” he said quietly. “Try not to hit any of us with your signal” he winked, pushing me off towards the enemy.

The darkness had truly set in now and I had only to keep silent to avoid being detected, seeing me by that point was impossible. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me towards the tower we had sighted the scout in.

The shadows clung to me like a mask, covering me from the vision of any prying eyes that might have come from above. True invisibility would have made things much easier and more fun, but this would still do.

As I approached the tower the sound of Symonds’ men talking at its base started to become louder. With any luck they would be too involved in their conversation to see me slip past them inside of the shadows.

There was a campfire just around the tower, I could see the edge of its fiery glow just around the corner. I crept to the edge of the building and leaned around the corner, trying to count how many of them there were.

“What did we ever do to deserve getting stuck out ‘ere?” one of the men grumbled.

“Well if its anyone’s fault than its yours for complaining all the bloody time” said another, leering at the first with his wooden spoon.

“Shut it you two!” a third man roared. He was a fair bit bigger than the first two, and when it came to small squabbles the biggest man usually had the most power.

“Or you’ll what eh?” sneered the first man. “The only way you’d ever be able to kill a man is to sit on him”

The large man stood up and puffed out his chest, walking towards the first man who had spoken. If the men got into a fight that would be my best chance at sneaking through to the scout unnoticed.

“Or maybe I will sit on you” he said violently. “And then skin you in front of your own mother, and after that maybe I’ll take her for my own”

“You’re gonna regret ever bringing my mother into this” roared the first men as he ran directly at the large one.

He collided with the large man’s chest and the two toppled over into a heap on the floor. Then the large man grabbed the small man and pushed him off, before charging him down.

This was my chance. Placing my hand on the tower I span around the corner and made straight for the stairs. Not a single shout issued from the men around the fire to make known my presence, they were all far too preoccupied with watching the fight.

“That went well” I whispered to myself with a smile as I headed up the stairs of the tower.

The staircase seemed long and far too winding for only a small tower I thought as I slowly rose to the top. A burning sensation had built itself a nest in my legs by the time I had reached the top and caught sight of the scout.

He sat with his feet hanging off the edge of the tower, whistling an odd tune which he occasionally mumbled the words of. A torch had been lit since we had first sighted him and sat up against the half broken wall to his right.

With silent precision I drew my blade and began to stalk forwards towards the man. I almost felt sorry for him, having no chance to fight back against me and all.

Aiming the tip of my sword at the base of his neck I stabbed quickly, pushing the blade all the way through to its hilt. The man stopped whistling and slumped back onto the ground instantly.

“Sorry” I whispered into the dead man’s ear, but I had to.

Now all that was left was to fire an arrow out and signal for Lucius and the others to advance. The only problem was that I was certain if I fired an arrow out into the night they wouldn’t see it unless it landed right next to them, and I had no idea where they were.

I glanced back down to the campfire Symonds men had been sitting around, they were still fighting.

I sighed and ripped a piece of the dead scout’s shirt off, wrapping it around the tip of an arrow. They were certain to see a flaming arrow, I was just hoping that Symonds’ men wouldn’t see it.

The cloth caught alight instantly as I dipped the arrow into the flames of the torch beside me before firing the shot.

The fire’s light shone in a sphere around the arrow as it sailed through the sky, beginning to illuminate the ground as it descended. I was certain I could make out the shapes of the four men approaching as the light of the arrow faded, so I turned and moved back down towards Symonds men.

It was about halfway down the staircase when I heard a scream issue from below me. The scream sent ice coursing through my veins and I sprinted down the staircase leaping out into the firelight with my sword drawn as I reached the bottom.

“Sorry Danny, looks like you took a bit too long getting down here” said Martyn, sheathing his sword. “We’re all done”

“You’ve got to be kidding me” I mumbled in response.

“Nope, our work is all done here” replied Lucius. “Time for the caravans to come in before we burn this place to the ground”

“And I didn’t even get to fight” I swore, throwing my sword into the ground and sitting down.

“Your time to fight will come soon enough” Lucius said with a nod, before disappearing into the black night.

 

 

The captain soon returned with the caravans, who swiftly began to strip bare the crops. I waited with Martyn until they had finished before we moved through the field and coated everything in sight with oil.

“Ash to ashes and dust to dust” I had heard Martyn whisper as I set alight the field.

The smoke and smog that poured from the ensuing fire was blacker than the night itself. It blotted out even the stars which usually shined so brightly in this part of the world.

Following the lighting of our fire as a signal was burning of every other crop in Hollowdell by the other barracks. Their smoke also rose high above the land and together the smoke was enough to cover even the moon. The night sky became more than black.

I couldn’t help but feel as if the smoke was, in fact, not smoke, but instead was the clouds of a storm that was brewing. An indicator of the huge amount of rain that was soon to come.

 

 

Afterwards I soon found myself once again sitting in the Duke’s observatory while Rolland stared out from his balcony. He had said he wanted to watch the sun rise.

“Have you ever just sat and watched the sun rise, Danny?” asked Rolland form his balcony.

From where he stood he would be able to see his entire dukedom, from his precious city all the way out to the hills of blood. However, thanks to my handiwork much of that land was covered in smoke which rose from the burnt farmlands.

The smoke was a clearly visible sight, Symonds would soon discover what we had done and be on his way to us. It started to rain.

“Yes” I said slowly. “I watch the sun rise most days, it is about the only peace I have ever been able to find in my life”

“No but have you ever really watched the sun rise?”  the Duke replied. Now that I thought about it the man’s eyes resembled the sun very slightly. “I mean have you ever felt the sun upon your face and smiled, knowing that everything was going to be alright, and knowing that everything was just as it should be?”

“I’m not sure I follow…” I replied after a moments thought.

“Come” he said, beckoning me with a hand. “Watch the sun rise with me, Danny”

I stood and strolled over to where the golden eyed Duke stood on his balcony. He smiled and put an arm over my shoulders, as much as I wanted to reject the arm I knew better than to do so to a duke, even if I myself was a noble.

 “We spend our lives trying to touch the sun” Rolland said quietly. “But very few of us ever actually do”

“We’re not talking about the sun anymore are we?”

The  Duke didn’t respond to my question and instead shot me a strange look from his golden eyes.

“Sometimes the clouds get in between us and the sun” he added pointing at the horizon.

On that particular morning there were many clouds sitting along the horizon in the way of the sunrise. They made the sky a little bit darker than it should have been by blocking the first few rays of sunlight.

“Despite the clouds though, we must always persevere to reach the sun”

“And why is that?” I asked. “What if there really is no hope of us ever reaching the sun?”

Shaking his head the Duke pulled his arm away from my shoulders and let it fall down to his side. “There is always hope Danny, because in the end the clouds will burst, and the sun will shine through”

At that very moment, as if the phenomenon had been caused by the Duke’s words, that very thing happened.

To begin with it was only one tiny beam of light that alone shone through the clouds. But slowly that tiny beam began to expand, tearing a large hole through the cloud cover. It was soon joined by more beams of sunlight, which spread throughout the clouds until despite how dark the clouds were, the sun still shone through with its full intensity. The clouds had burst and I could feel the sun shining on my face, but it was still raining in my world.

“Can you see it Danny?” the Duke asked. “More importantly though, can you feel it?”

I couldn’t feel it, and I opened my mouth to reply but before I had a chance to speak the doors of the Duke’s observatory crashed open and a man dove through the door. His face was bright red and covered in sweat, he looked like he had run a long distance, or a short distance very quickly.

“Milords” the man gasped out between deep breaths before weakly attempting a bow.

“What is it, soldier?” Rolland asked roughly.

“It’s Symonds, milord” the man replied swiftly. “He’s outside the hall and demands to speak to you”

I nearly fell over, he was here, my enemy was just downstairs from me.

“I feared this would happen” Rolland muttered, strolling past the man.

I followed closely behind the Duke, keeping to his side at all times as we descended down towards the hall of the castle. Several of the guards had their spears aimed at the door and a commotion could be heard outside; presumably the murderer trying to persuade them to let him in.

“Open the doors!” Rolland boomed.

I stared at the man in surprise for a moment after he issued the order for the doors to be open. Although Symonds had rebelled he was still the Duke’s son, and the fact that Symonds was my enemy mattered not to the golden eyed man.

“Lower your spears and open the damn doors” Rolland roared at the guards barring Symonds way.

They lowered their spears tentatively before one of the men unbarred the door and Symonds cam charging through. I could see his blue eyes flashing from the other side of the hall as he stalked towards us.

“Father!” his scream pulsed throughout the entire structure. I would even go as far as to say it shook me a little.

“Father” Symonds repeated, a little less violently this time. He was still a decent distance away. “Would you care to explain as to why when I awoke this morning the crops were but smouldering piles of ash?”

“Did you really think that your betrayal of our people would be without consequence?” Rolland snapped back. “You were always far too self absorbed to make a good ruler, just look around you Symonds! You’re tearing Hollowdell asunder!”

Symonds threw his head back and laughed, it was the mocking laugh of a devil that I heard each and every night, usually though it was followed by a scream. His laughter echoed around the room bouncing from wall to wall constantly before fading away as the murderer approached his father.

“And you believe yourself to be a just ruler father?” Symonds sneered. “If you’re such a good ruler than why did so many of your beloved citizens rise up alongside me?”

“Your flippant attitude will get you nowhere young captain!” piped Ellis from the other side of the Duke. I hadn’t even seen him come in.

“Oh Ellis, how I have missed you” Symonds replied, a smile growing across the monster’s face.

“Let me just promise you something” he added after scratching his chin. “When my men and I take back our city, you will be the first person I come for”

Symonds drew a sword and aimed its tip directly at Ellis, taking a challenging step towards the rat. The guards in the room erupted chaotically and surrounded him, their spears and halberds sitting but inches from his heart.

As amusing as it was to watch someone threaten Ellis, my hatred for Symonds burned far more brightly than my hatred of the Duke’s rat. I stepped over and in front of Ellis, drawing my sword ever so slightly from its sheathe. Ellis cowered behind me in fear.

“Oh relax would you guys” Symonds said, walking around in his small circle of space. He tapped the blade of his sword against each and every spear as he walked around.

“I would call off your men and that dog of yours up there who guards Ellis” he added, sheathing his blade. “I’m not exactly in the mood for killing men just yet, but I’ll make an exception for anyone who continues to threaten me”

Rolland placed a hand on my shoulder and motioned for his guards to leave Symonds as he was. I reluctantly moved away from the Duke’s throne and down past Symonds, keeping my eyes on him the entire time.

“You plan to try and take the city from me than?” Rolland asked.

Symonds shrugged. “More or less, yes, that is the plan, I mean what can you expect when you haven’t exactly left me much choice father”

“So you only came here to cause trouble for the fun of it?” said Rolland. He sounded angry. “And I had thought that leaving had at least helped you to mature somewhat Symonds, how wrong I was”

“Well even so, at least one of us has grown in this time of war” he replied simply, wiping down some dirt from the bottom of his shirt and proceeding to clean his fingernails.

“What is that supposed to mean?” the Duke asked, raising his eyebrows at the murderer who stood in his court.

“I mean the whole burning the farmlands to try and starve me out, you always used to be soft for things like that” he replied. “But than again… Maybe it was just your new dog who pushed you to do it, eh?”

Rolland didn’t say anything, instead he stared down at his son without flinching.

“I thought as much” Symonds said, taking a single glance back over his shoulder at me. I swore that there was a hint of recognition in his rainy eyes. “And I didn’t just come here to ‘cause trouble’ as you so eloquently put it”

“Well in that case why did you storm into my city and draw a weapon upon one of my advisers?” came Rolland’s quick reply.

“I was actually rather hoping you would lend us some of the food you stole, the men and women who follow me outside the protection of these walls are still your people after all father” Symonds explained. “Oh and, drawing my sword against that rat you call an adviser was a necessary evil, we both know that the man isn’t good for much save a spot of ill natured fun” he added after another scratch of his chin.

“You and all those who followed you chose your own paths, you will get nothing from me” Rolland said with a wave of his hand. “Your actions have consequences Symonds, this is but one of those consequences”

“I assumed your answer would be as much” he replied. “Alas, as much as I do love these little talks of ours father I must beg your leave, I have a few final preparations to make before taking back my city from an evil dictator”

Symonds bowed deeply in a sarcastic manner to the Duke before turning and strolling down the hall towards the door. However I had already, during the course of the conversation, moved down to the entrance and stood in front of the double doors.

My heart was beating in my throat as I watched Symonds walk towards me. I finally had him right here in front of me, right within my grasp.

“Excuse me pup” he said. “I’m a rather busy man as you may have already gathered, and theirs much that needs my attention”

He then swept his hand dismissively in front of my face, indicating that he wished for me to move out of the way. I lowered my right hand to the sheath of my sword and ever so slightly drew the weapon with my thumb.

The entire time I kept my eyes fixed upon his, his demonic blue eyes. My hand was clenched so hard around the scabbard of my sword that my knuckles were turning white, and I could feel the sword slicing through its covering and biting into my hand.

“Oh I do see” he said nonchalantly, also lowering a hand to his sword slowly.

The pain in my hand from clutching my sword too tightly was the only thing that was keeping me from attacking him outright. But I was slowly becoming accustomed to that pain.

Here was the man who had murdered the only good thing in my life, the man who had tore a part of me away, and he was standing right in front of me.

“Danny!” Rolland shouted, cutting like a knife into my thoughts. “Let him go, Danny!”

I stayed right where I was. I wasn’t about to let the murderer get away, he wasn’t going to beat me again. Those blue eyes, that white smile, all of it was evil.

Let Him Go? I just wasn’t sure that was something I was capable of.

“We’re sorry Danny” I heard someone mumble behind me, before two sets of arms wrapped themselves around me.

I swore, trying to wrench myself free from whoever it was that held me.

“We really are sorry” the person said again. I turned and realised that it was Martyn and Lucius who held me.

“Let go of me!” I screamed, trying to throw my body at Symonds who I was slowly being dragged away from.

“You have to let him go this time, Danny” Martyn whispered into my ear. “I’m sure you’ll find him on the battlefield soon enough though”

I continued to write within the two men’s grip but to no avail. Their hold was fast and I couldn’t overpower the two large men. Symonds laughed as he stepped through the open doorway but stopped just at the edge of my vision.

“I could have sworn I’d seen you before” he said, squinting his eyes at me.

I opened my mouth to speak but was stopped by his raised hand. I was ready to burst, and shout everything I had held inside all this time at him. I could feel the lava boiling up from within my heart.

“Don’t tell me just yet” he said, his demonic gaze still fixed upon me. “I’m sure I will figure it all out soon enough pup, may haps if we meet on the battlefield, by then I shall most definitely have remembered”

“You have far outstayed your welcome son” Rolland bellowed. “Begone!”

“As you wish father” Symonds said offering another sarcastic bow, and with that he was gone.

There was nothing but dust and dirt left in his wake as the murderer disappeared into the distance. I felt almost betrayed by Martyn and Lucius even though they had really done the right thing.

“Get your f*****g hands off me” I spat, tearing myself free from their grasp.

I took a step towards Martyn and lashed out, my fist catching him directly in the jaw. He recoiled and quickly moved away from me.

“I probably deserved that” he sighed, rubbing his face. “I really am sorry”

The hurt in his eyes was apparent, whether due to my punch or his betrayal of me however was not apparent.

 “Sorry isn’t going to bring anyone back, Martyn” I sobbed quietly.

The room was perfectly silent as I sat down on the floor and buried my face between my fingers. The beating of my heart was yet to leave my throat and the lava still coursed through my veins and consumed me. He really was gone again. The rain was unbearable.

“What are you two doing here anyway?” I managed to choke out.

“Well while you were with the Duke someone arrived” said Martyn as he crouched down beside me.

“He turned up to the barracks actually” added Lucius. “He was asking about you, so I figured I’d ask Martyn who he was”

Martyn placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled down at me. “Just look over there” he said, pointing to the other side of the hall.

The man Martyn pointed to was fairly tall and extremely well muscled. His skin was fairly tanned and covered with freckles due to long hours of exposure to the sun. He wore a pair of spurred brown boots, trousers, a light shirt and gloves, the typical attire of a farmer. His hair was red and a great big bushy beard sat on his chin beneath two eyes that were the colour of emerald. It was my father. It was Rowan.