Chapter 154 – The Road to War

We moved fast. There was no time to waste. Kara and Clay organized our people, gathering fifty living warriors, mounted on salvaged bicycles. Twelve abominations jogged in their shambling lurch behind us. They were a little too slow to keep pace but they weren’t falling too far behind. I had hopes they’d arrive in time to make an impact.

Sue ran ahead like a freight train of rage. Plum, my skeletal kaiju chicken, carried a dozen fire-skeleton archers strapped to her back in crude harnesses. That was Kara’s idea, and it was a good one. The fire skeletons gave Plum a ranged defense, and allowed me to bring them to the fight. Who could say no to mobile artillery?

Clay had field command of the living. I handled the undead.

We skirted wide around the old airport, keeping well clear of the avian nest. There was no time for that fight. We kept to main roads as much as possible, keeping it easy for the bikers, and that let us make excellent time. We sped past burnt-out vehicles and half-demolished houses until we saw the walls of the Air Guard base up ahead.

We were too late. They’d already left.

That was fine. Delores remained behind to prepare medical supplies and healers for the battle’s aftermath. The rest of us kept moving, pushing hard to catch up. Our people didn’t complain. None of us did. There wasn’t breath to spare. Only the sound of gravel and dirt under wheels, the hiss of wind as we raced on, and soon the distant thunder of battle calling us forward.

We caught up with the other Guard troops just south of Camp Johnson. The Air Guard column moved in a tight, disciplined formation. They were nearly two hundred strong, but most of them were on foot, with only a few riding horses. That explained how we’d managed to catch up. The bikes were a huge asset, and I was glad we’d scavenged them.

Colonel Turner peeled off the moment he saw our troops, riding alongside Sue for a moment so he could call up to me. “Good call on the bikes! I’ll have to get some for our troops, too. I’m going to rejoin my forces and take command there. Stay with us, so we can hit them together?”

“Will do. My people have been pedaling hard, so they could use a little breather before we enter combat anyway,” I told him. “Good luck. Don’t get dead.”

He laughed. “You, either.”

We were in it now. The last bend of the road crested ahead—and beyond it, Camp Johnson waited. From the sounds of things, we were in time. They were still under siege, probably outnumbered, but not broken.

We crested the final ridge—and there it was.

Camp Johnson sprawled below us, its outer defenses ringed with smoke and movement. Orcs swarmed the northern and western walls, clustered around makeshift barricades and dragging crude siege towers toward the defenders. Most of the towers were little more than lashed together logs and scavenged sheet metal, but a few had wheels, and one of them was already close enough to touch the wall. Smoke poured from the base where someone had set fire to it, but it was still intact enough to be a significant threat.

Screams rose over the clash of steel. Magic flared along the battlements, blue and green sparks lit up the sky, and the deeper glow of fire erupted from somewhere inside the walls. They were still holding, but only just. We’d arrived in the literal nick of time.

I swung down from Sue’s back and motioned Kara, Turner, Clay, and Jefferson in close. The enemy hadn’t noticed us yet, so for the moment we had the opportunity to engage how we wanted to. Taking a moment to plan was the smart play. We crouched behind a chunk of old concrete foundation that overlooked the valley floor.

“They’re pressed hard on the west and north sides,” Kara said. “That tower near the corner? If they get a dozen orcs on the wall at once, the whole thing could fall fast.”

“I’ve got troops fresh and ready,” Turner said. “We’ll roll in from the south and approach the southern gate. That’s where they’re thinnest—looks like they’re focused on keeping the pressure up north.”

Jefferson nodded. “If we push hard there, we can punch through, get inside the walls, and relieve the defenders there. They need reinforcements. Most of my soldiers aren’t very high rank, yet.”

“I think that makes sense, but if they spot you coming too soon they can move their western flank down and engage you. They can tie you up too long,” I said. “Give me a chance to swing wide with the undead. I’ll bring them in from the southwest, right along that tree line. If I hit them from there, they won’t be able to chase your people. You’ll get inside the walls for sure.”

Clay grunted. “That will work, but I don’t like the look of that tower. It needs to go.”

“I’ll handle it,” I said. “Attacking siege engines seems to be turning into my speciality.”

Turner stood and clapped a hand to his thigh. “Alright. Let’s make some noise.”

I broke from the huddle and waved Clay forward with the living troops. “Take the bikes into the trees southwest of here—use the ridge as cover. Get them ready for ambush. No noise unless you have to.”

He gave a sharp nod and rode off, calling out orders as he went. One by one, the bikers peeled away, wheels hissing as they moved off the paved road onto the grass, and from there into the trees. Kara stayed beside me as we turned Sue and Plum toward the woods, following the rest of our people.

The forest closed around us quickly, but the spot of forest just wasn’t that large. We made the passage quickly, the bikers dropping their vehicles at the edge of the woods.

I stopped at a break in the trees that gave a partial view of the orc formation on the west flank. We were close now. They were pushing hard, using crude bows to pin down the defenders on the wall while their fellows pulled the siege towers forward.

Best of all, they still hadn’t spotted us yet. Time to change that.

“Go,” I whispered to my dino. 

Sue didn’t need a second prompt, erupting from the tree line like a freight train, clawed feet ripping up dirt and bellowing a roar that echoed across the valley. The orcs turned as one, momentarily startled—just in time to catch a Fireball to the face.

The spell exploded in a tight cluster, sending a half-dozen orcs flying, scorched and broken. Behind us Plum surged forward to the edge of the woods. The fire skeletons on her back loosed volleys of fire bolts into the confused enemy lines.

Chaos fell over the orc lines as they scattered, trying to avoid the flames flying their way. I scanned the tree line again, but no sign of the Abominations yet. I could feel them, though. They were close, now, still moving at their frustrating undead pace, but they’d arrive soon.

The orcs, predictably, took the bait. It didn’t take them long to recover from the shock, and then a whole company of them broke off the assault on the wall and came charging toward us, snarling and howling as they raced for the tree line. Perfect.

I pulled hard on my magic and reached out to the fallen orcs. The burned corpses killed by Sue’s fireball twitched, then they rose again as tier five zombie orcs. My temporary shock troops turned without hesitation and launched themselves into their former allies, biting, clawing, and stabbing with scorched blades. The orcs faltered, thrown into disarray all over again.

Which was when Clay’s people made their move. The underbrush behind Sue and Plum exploded with motion as my living troops sprang their trap. Crossbow bolts and arrows hissed from the trees and slammed into the oncoming orcs. It wasn’t a clean sweep—these were orcs, after all—but the impact was devastating. We’d definitely gotten their attention enough for Turner’s force to get through. I glanced their way, and they were already in motion, making good time toward the gates. The path to the gate was clear, or at least clear enough. They’d make it.

Which meant that part of my job was done. That still left the siege tower, though, and the situation there looked more desperate by the moment. I turned, eyes snapping to the northwest corner of the wall. The siege tower had reached the battlements. Its gangplank had dropped, and orcs were already pouring across it, slamming into the defenders at the top. I saw a line of human soldiers there. The looked tired, bloodied, outmatched—and they were losing ground fast.

I needed to plug that gap, or Turner’s reinforcements were going to arrive too late to help.

Magic flared as I launched myself skyward, rising fast over the trees and the burning battlefield. Arrows followed me immediately, black-fletched and crude, but the wind and my speed kept them off-target. A few whistled close, but nothing near enough to worry me.

I stayed focused on the tower, angling into a dive and gathering speed as I fell. The wall came up fast but I landed in a crouch of flared magic and shattering stone, the impact rocking the parapet beneath me.

The orcs staggered backward from the force of my arrival. I was moving before they recovered. I surged forward and kicked the nearest one in the chest. It went flying backward off the wall with a strangled grunt, vanishing over the edge into the chaos below. The second one turned too late. I raised my hand and cast Drain Life, ripping its strength away in a rush of shrieking energy. It stumbled, already dying, and I finished the job with a sharp twist of my blade.

The third was bigger. Smarter, maybe, because it came at me slowly, with caution. That wasn’t going to save it. The orc snarled and lunged with a hooked axe raised high. I caught the blow on my blade, twisted my sword around its weapon, and drove the blade through its ribs. It dropped like a rock.

Three orcs down in three heartbeats. I’d cleared the wall of foes. But there were plenty more still climbing up behind them.

“Let’s go!” I told the soldiers standing shocked behind me.

“Lady, who the hell are you?” one of them asked.

There wasn’t time to explain things to them. Another orc rushed over the gangplank, snarling and swinging a jagged cleaver. I ducked under the wild strike and drove my shoulder into its gut, shoving it backward off the wall before it could recover. A second one lunged behind it, faster than I expected—but not faster than me. My blade flashed, carving through its thigh and dropping it to its knees. I ended it cleanly.

But they just kept coming. A pair of orcs were halfway up the tower’s ladder already, and another was stomping across the gangplank with a massive club in both hands. The defenders behind me were still trying to regroup, but they were terrified, exhausted, and mostly tier two or three. They were completely outmatched in this fight.

I needed to end this.

I stepped to the edge of the wall and raised both hands, power crackling around my fingers. I hadn’t used this spell much, yet, but I’d seen it in action. I had hopes it would work.

With an effort of Will, I fired off my Dark Pulse spell.

A sphere of shadow erupted outward from me, exploding across the top of the tower with a shriek like tearing metal. The force hit the nearest orcs like a hammer, flinging them backward—one off the wall, the others into the tower frame itself.

The magic didn’t stop there. The blast slammed into the gangplank and the top of the siege tower, breaking boards and snapping ropes. Chunks of wood were blown clean off the tower, sailing to the ground below.

That was all it took. With a low, groaning crack, the top supports of the tower buckled. Rotten beams snapped. Fastened logs ripped free as the crude structure twisted under its own weight.

And then it came down.

The entire top of the tower collapsed in a rain of splintered wood and shrieking orcs, crashing into the attackers below. Dust and smoke billowed skyward. A final crack split the air as the rest of the tower pitched sideways and fell away from the wall, shattering across the battlefield in a heap of wreckage.

Silence followed—just for a moment. Then one of the soldiers behind me let out a shaky breath. “Holy shit.”

I turned back toward the line and raised my sword. “We hold this wall.”

This time, nobody argued.