A Paradox in Retrograde (45 page)

With that completed he turned to see that Xora had escaped into
the relative safety of the kitchen. Within Ibsen was sent scurrying
for safety below the table as Xora searched for a weapon of her
own. She would have to think fast, for the creature was banging
with all his force onto the flimsy wooden door. It would not hold
for much longer. Just then she remembered the pot of scalding
water that she had on the stove that was now roiling to escape the
vessel. She grabbed a pot holder and got a firm grip with both
hands onto the pot to make ready its use as a weapon. As the last
splinters of the door exploded inward she was ready. The creature
emerged with the dread expression of murder upon its face. That
was all the sign Xora needed to see to it was time to strike. With
all her might she cast the boiling contents directly into its hideous
eyes. A horrible scream issued through its flashing jaws. The
searing heat of the water burned him instantly scarring his eyes
beyond recognition. It yelped for mercy as it stumbled backwards
through the broken doorway. The creature backed up to the edge
of the wall grasping at what was left of his disfigured face. Xora
followed it out unto the barricade and found againthe blood
stained pike handle. Without hesitation like a woman possessed
she preceded then to bash the wounded creature with it again and
again about the face and neck. Eventually the force of the blows
pushed the wounded creature back right up to the edge of the
wall. With one last blow the creature tripped backward and was
sent tumbling over the edge. She leaned over the edge to watch
the creature plummet downward. This time the creature did not
attempt to glide to safety for it had lost all sense.

By now the sound of gunfire had erupted all along the parapet. It
was plain then that this was no isolated incident. She was full of
dread as she came to the realization that the attack had started.
Her thoughts immediately ran from those of her own safety and
to that of Ibsen, to all of the children. It was thought that the children would be safe here. She knew she had to do something.

From above the sound of muffled screams and scattered gun fire
filtered downward through the darkness, shattering the silence.
Landaus attention was now focused by necessity from the forward position to the citadel itself. Their defenses somehow had
been compromised. Looking up he watched as the distinctive
muzzle flash of musketry dance along the high wall. He called
out to the sergeant major," Sergeant Major, send a squad immediately up into the citadel. It appears our defenses have been
breached somewhere so send another to our rear to secure the perimeter and guard the main entrance of the citadel we can not allow them to gain a toe hold there. Stop them at all cost do you
understand?"

"Yes Sir." The sergeant major saluted and left in a rush to coordinate his response. In short order his commands trickled down and
two squads were quickly formed. Ananda having noticed the
commotion came forward to offer Landaus his assistance.
"Landaus, this action is merely a faint to draw your forces away
from the main battle at hand. Aaralaat is as wise as he is old. He
is attempting to cause confusion amongst you. I say let the citadel
burn along with all its contents. Only then will he see your metal."

Landaus turned toward Ananda with a perplexed lookupon his
face. "What did just say? Let the citadel burn. Do you realize
what you're saying? There are hundreds of children within those
walls. That is our last sanctuary. We can not abandon it."

"I would suggest then that Aaralaat is keenly aware of this, and
he is therefore forcing your hand. If victory is what you seek,
then abandon this front at your peril for victory is already theirs.
However if you to temporarily cede command to this front to me,
you could form a second front from within the citadel. Believe
me when I say this, I have no intentions in this my final battle to
cause the people of earth any undo harm. My sole intention is to
bring this conflict to its final end." Landaus was truly torn for
there could be no true victory with the souls of those children
squandered for its sake. He looked now to Grunhuf who still
stood at his side. "What, are you looking to me for an answer?
Landaus I can't tell you what to do but I will follow you where
ever you go I promise you that."

Landaus turned again to Ananda and said, "If I do this you must
promise me that this line will not falter."

 

"On my honor I swear that we will fight to the last man including
myself if necessary. On this you can rely."

Landaus felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from
him as he reached his hand out to seal their arrangement. "Good
luck to you Ananda, or should I call you Hector. I hope you find
what you're looking for."

"I already have."

Virtually from the moment that the warriors had taken cover
among the dunes, their secret work there had gotten underway.
With a series of tunnels a siege would commence at once to undermine the enemy stronghold. Out of sight withinthe dugouts
their engineers had not wasted any time, for withinhours rudimentary albeit serviceable temporary shafts had begun to honeycomb deep below the defenders feet. At least one had made it all
the way to the citadel gates, despite their vigilance at maintaining
watch. Under the cover of black night across the sandy expanse
an imperceptibly slow advance had went on unnoticed. Aaralaat
carefully watched his opponents every move. With patience of a
praying mantis he waited for Landaus to respond. From a hastily
built platform he looked out through his field glass across the no
mans land. There then he witnessed as Landaus was doing just
what he hoped he would do. To his surprise and disappointment
he watched as the commander averted troops away from where
they would be desperately needed among the ranks along the secondary perimeter. He lowered the lens from before his eyes. He
turned to Eldred, his second in command and said "Landaus it
would seem has gathered there a sizable force with the apparent
intention of stifling our faint at the incursion point nearest the
Citadel. I know this man; I seriously doubt he would make such a
wager. He knows too well or capabilities. He must then know the
folly involved with such an action."

"Perhaps you've given this demon more credit than he deserves."
Eldred looked onto the face of his king and was surprised by his
even temperament on the eve of his greatest victory. "What is
wrong my King? I should think you would have been more
pleased that our enemy has fallen directly into our trap."

Aaralaat turned abruptly toward his second in command and
glared at him with is stern eye and a reprimand. "You dishonor
yourself by making sport of the ritual. Many of our own have already died, and with many more still to come. You do them a disservice by underestimating this enemy. Being that you have not
yet learned this lesson, I should have you lead the main attack
personally." This suggestion in this young commander garnered
the result he had anticipated, for he saw upon his face that same
zeal that he too had once possessed. He looked onto the young
warrior in dismay. He witnessing there Eldred's seething lust for
glory. He realized then perhaps for the first time that he could not
sense one Iota of the same fire within himself. The burdens of
kingship had long ago sapped all of the mystery from the ancient
religion to which he had once professed his undyingfaith.

The groveling commander dropped down on one knee in praise,
"Oh great King you will not regret this honor you have bestowed
upon me, I promise that I will do these things thatyou ask and
more. I will bring honor to those who have fallen.And if I meet
there Hector himself, I shall be victorious." Though Aaralaat was
amused with these pronouncements he tried to conceal how this
last bit of irony

With the defenders line now weakened significantly, Aaralaat
sent down his orders to make ready for the main advance. There
within their hideouts the demolition teams secured the devices
beneath the primary perimeter. The teams unwound the long fuse
lines back to the safety of their own line and prepared the ignition
switch. As the warriors passed along to the rear the order to make
ready, a palpable energy seethed within their ranks. Within mere
moments of giving the order every warrior was ready for battle
awaiting now only the sign to move forth. Suddenly a great explosion upon the beach shook the defenders. A great mass of earth
was ejected into the air in all directions, from the point of explosion. Smoke and sand rained down as a secondary front appeared
from nowhere. Until the air would clear they would not see that
the ground beneath their feet had suddenly opened. It was from
this crater through which Aaralaat's army would emerge from like
a plague of insects within their midst. Shortly there after the mass
of smoke had dissipated and the air began to clear. With the remnants of the explosion’s debris still burning, flickering shadows of
the enemy were cast. The air then was again filled with musket
fire. Volley after volley were fired at the enemy as sheets of lead
were thrown forward, though with accuracy. This did little toward
thwarting their resolve. Though their bodies were protected from
mortal wounds by their armor, it could not deflect the blunt force
of its kinetic energy.

As Landaus advanced, he heard the great commotion being unleashed at the front. He could not help but feel he had abandoned
them. Grunhuf witnessed this hesitation in his friend. He put his
hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "Landaus we have our own
mission to contend with. Let Amida and Ananda do what they do
best, and let us save the children. If all else fails the citadel will be
intact."

"Of course you're right Grunhuf. Let's get in there and secure the
place before it's over run." By now their force had reached the
Citadel gate. To their surprise they found the huge heavy doors
open and unguarded. Landaus gave the order, "Alright boys it
looks like we'll have company tonight, so affix bayonets and assume close quarters formation." The well trained guards within
ten seconds had done just that and had begun to form into clusters a smaller four man teams. The thought behind which was
that within these teams if need be that at least on man could be
ready to fire at a moment's notice, as well as the fact that four
bayonets moving in unison were more far more formidable. It
had served them well against pirates. There was no reason to suspect it might not be effective now.

The first team expecting an ambush was careful as they entered
through the doorway. There upon entry they found a pair of
guards killed where they stood. There was no one evidently about
so the all's clear signal was given. One by one the groups came
into the court yard and took up their positions. Once inside Landaus gave the orders of deployment. He sent each crew to take
and hold if necessary any occupied areas they may come across.
He and a select group of guardsman would personally attend to
the children who he hoped were still safely ensconced within the
high tower itself.

As this group made their way back into the tower, Lady Xora
and Ibsen were doing their best to stay out of sight of the predators that they now imagined were all about. Their concerns were
confirmed by the distant sounds of mayhem as skirmishes broke
out as the invaders were discovered by the guards on watch duty.

For the most part they were holding their ground for they still
held a numerical advantage. Xora and Ibsen for their part had
somehow managed to avoid them. Though seemingly moving
they found themselves now in a narrow dimly lit passage. "Ibsen,
tell me does any of this look at all familiar to you?" His eyes
darted about in the relative darkness.

"It's hard to tell in this light, but I think so."

 

"Good, could you recall then if an armory is anywhere near here?

I don't feel comfortable unarmed out here in the open."
Ibsen scanned the environment and his memory carefully before
he answered; "I do believe there is an armory that services the
high guards further down along this hall."

"Alright then let's get there quickly before they catch us."

Further down along the hall they came upon the crumpled figure
of a guard. "Look there." Ibsen called out; "It looks like an injured
guard." They rushed down the hall and rolled the unlucky guard
over so they might offer assistance. "Oh dear lord it's corporal
Lex." Xora exclaimed excitedly. "Quickly let's pull him out from
the open into that doorway." With both Ibsen and Xora securing a
leg they easily pulled him along the smooth marble floor to the
alcove. Ibsen looked up to take note of the sign above the door.
There he noted what appeared to be what they were looking for.
He pointed up to the door frame to the sign that read arsenal. "I
think this is what you were looking for isn't it?" She turned to
look and as she did a broad grin appeared upon her face. "It most
certainly is Ibsen that was some good work. We must hurry
though. Help me check his person he must have a set keys on
him." Ibsen knew the guard uniform had a pocket sewn into the
left side of the jacket and so quickly went to work at finding it.
"I've got it" he yelled.

"Ibsen keep your voice down they're bound to hear."Instead of
wasting time explaining he gave her the key. It was a skeleton key
and so it took a bit of work to turn the tumblers. Soon however
she had it. They swung the door open and pulled the unconscious
guard with them into the relative safety of the armory. As quietly
as they could they closed the heavy wooden door behind them.
Before they could catch their breath Xora set themto action.
"Ibsen perhaps you could try to revive corporal Lex while I look
for something we can use?"

"OK" While Xora searched up and down the darkened aisles Ibsen tried to gently wake the unconscious soldier. Both were acutely aware of the danger of being discovered so theytried to keep
their sound to a minimum.
Gently Ibsen slapped Lex while softly calling his name. "Lex,
wake up. You have to wake up." He did this several times to no
avail. He then began to lightly shake him, but soon was shaking
him violently. He gave him one last slap and his eyes began to
open ever so slightly. Again he slapped him with increased force
and before he could go again Lex's hand rose up in time to intercept the next blow. His eyes open wide and with a slurred tongue
spoke to his young assailant. "Ibsen is that you, Where am I?"
Ibsen helped him sit up as he winced from the pain. "It looks like
you got hit pretty hard on the head. We found you out there in
hall unconscious."