Sauragia

Chapter 19

Saurahall was enclosed by the trees of the great Elderwood Forest on three sides, and it did not take Edward’s horde long to fill up these woods. At some points the tree line was closer to the wall than others, but nowhere did trees grow nearer than by the western wall. For this reason there were extra guards posted there to watch for activity among the greenery, which grew as near as twenty paces from the ramparts. Astron himself had often patrolled the walls since the siege had begun, and paid particular attention to this section.

“Keep a sharp eye on that big oak there,” he cautioned. “Its branches stretch a fair distance toward us. I don’t know if Gorvosaurs are good climbers, but we don’t want them getting that close if they are.”

But Edward did not try anything so fancy. Not yet. He decided instead on an altogether trite and obvious frontal attack to begin with as a test to the Saurahallers. The ingeniousness of it was that it was a well-coordinated attack on all three gates at once. Edward had not been idle for a moment since entering Cardolin. Despite his lofty air and laid-back appearance, he was hard at work laying out plans and devising methods by which to best penetrate Saurahall’s defences and flood the city with his troops. He decided first to try out all the enemy’s defences at the same time so that he could find their weakest point, as any good siege commander would. For this, he had ordered battering rams to be made out of sharpened tree trunks, one for each gate and two for the wider front gate. He did not necessarily anticipate success on this first attempt, but he did his best to make his soldiers think it would succeed so they would try their hardest, just in case.

He had placed the groups attacking the east and west gates under his two most able officers: namely Carl and Ulric. He knew that these two would compete fiercely to have their forces be the first ones inside in an attempt to impress him, and this was just the kind of thinking he wanted driving the troops on in this first critical attack.

“Right, you know the plan,” he spoke to them. “Keep their heads down and shatter those gates to splinters. First one in gets an extra reward when the city is taken, if I don’t beat you both from the front.”

“Understood, lord,” said both commanders as they were dismissed back to their units, each with visions of a promotion and vast shares of treasure in his head. Letting out an almost bored sigh, King Edward then turned to take command of his own force—the main one that would strike the south wall.

The Saltrak assembled for the assault shortly thereafter, and the movement throughout their ranks drew the attention of the Saurahallers. Though they were already in their positions, Astron had the alarm bell atop the kirk sounded so the non-combatants would take cover in their homes. A hum of excitement reverberated throughout the defenders’ ranks. The time for action—the first action for most—had come, and they did not know whether to be thrilled or terrified at the prospect. Even the unshakable Rob had to look to Astron for reassurance.

“There’s an awful lot of the blighters out there,” he remarked, shuffling about nervously. “S’pose we can take ‘em, old lad?”

“Calm yourself, Rob,” said Astron. “Of course we can. They don’t even have ladders from what I can tell, so all we have to do is keep them away from the gates. With these solid walls below us and above them, we‘ll hold.”

And so, with their new commander standing solid in the face of danger, the members of the Guard felt inspired to put on a brave face. The dinosaurs of the Defence Force, some of whom had seen action before, stood likewise behind Captain Humphreys, who walked back and forth along the west wall directing actions there. Sergeant Browne commanded the east wall, and Alfred watched the north. It took them somewhat longer, but Edward’s troops were soon gathered behind their commanders and ready to strike. There was a pause as the two sides faced off for an instant. Then began the attack.

At a nod from Edward, a wild howl went up, followed by a savage roar from the rest of the horde. In an untamed demonstration of their ferocity and fearlessness, the barbarians emitted a loud and wordless war chant as they advanced, enhanced by the banging of spear and sword butts on shields. It was in all an impressively frightening display, and it had the intended effect on the defenders. Doubt tugged at them as they saw the strength and bravery of their enemy in full force. Some cast worried glances at those beside them, including Rob. Astron saw this and did not like it one bit.

“Get hold of yourself, Rob!” he snapped at his second. “All of you, stand firm. As long as we are here they haven’t won. After all, they’re dinosaurs just like you and me, and can bleed and die like any of us. Now let’s give them a welcome that stings. Arrows up and release!”

At this command a volley of arrows flew out from the wall’s archers and landed solidly in the barbarian lines. A goodly row of enemies did indeed fall. This lent credence to Astron’s statement, and gave the Saurahallers the boost they needed to continue. Still the enemy dinosaurs advanced, their chanting increasing in strength despite their losses. They parted a bit to allow the battering rams through to the gates. Astron directed his troops to shoot at them, but a wave of arrows suddenly flew up from Edward’s horde, killing several defenders instantly. The rest loosed their arrows and dropped below the battlements for cover. Taking quick glances over the side, they could see the rams moving steadily closer, though at their own risk. A few who stood up for too long received an arrow through the eye for their trouble. Astron could see what the enemy was doing and gave vent to his frustration.

“They’re trying to keep us down on purpose,” he said to Rob. “We can’t threaten their rams if we can’t get a good aim at their crews.”

Rob looked around, his quick mind taking in everything he saw. He perked up as he spotted a solution to their dilemma.

“I say, Astron,” said he excitedly, shaking his friend. “Do you suppose those will work?”

Astron looked where he indicated. Out back of the inn there sat several bags of lamp oil that had not been brought inside during all the confusion the day before.

“How so?” he asked, a little disappointed at Rob’s thinking.

“We’ll drop ‘em on the ram crews and set them on fire,” explained Rob simply. “They’ve been sitting out in the sun all morning, so they should be hot enough.”

“Excellent idea, Rob!” said Astron with sudden realization. “Go down and get them up here quickly. Take as many as you need to get the job done.”

Rob nodded, selected three helpers, then hurried down the wall steps to fetch the oil. Astron peered over the edge of the battlements to check on the progress of the battering rams. They were closer than he cared for, so he stood and rallied the defenders to rise and exchange arrows with the enemy. Meanwhile it did not take Rob and his crew all that long to gather the oil into large wash tubs and haul it up to the wall above the gate.

“Got it all in place, old chap,” spoke Rob, keeping low. “When do we torch the blighters?”

“Wait until they’ve gotten a couple hits in, then let them have it,” replied Astron. “But hold some in reserve so we can hit them again.”

They waited with the washtubs behind the battlements, ready to tip them at a moment’s notice. Slowly the rams moved into place, then with a running start, made their first slam against Saurahall’s main gate. The iron-reinforced doors shook under the initial impact, but were not seriously damaged. The crews backed off to make another run, which again amounted to naught. As they backed off for a third go, Astron had the oil placed on the edge of the ramparts, and as they started forward, he gave the order to tip the containers. With perfect timing the oil splashed down on the front half of the rams and their crews, causing them to lose their grip and fall when they tried to back off for another hit.

The laughter of the defenders coursed down through the reddening crews as they blundered about furiously in the massive slippery puddle now spreading before the gates. One of the leaders ordered the rams turned around so that the dry back ends could be grasped. They were just in the process of doing so when the second wave of oil splashed over them. More bouts of laughter drifted down to them as they floundered about to escape the slimy mess, completely abandoning the rams. One Gorvosaurus stood and fell no less than seven times according to Rob afterward. Then the torches were dropped.

Instantly flames shot up from the oily mass, causing momentary silence. The two oil-coated rams were consumed by the fire, along with several dinosaurs who did not escape in time. Their screams and howls frightened the Saurahallers and horrified their comrades. King Edward was livid as he watched from some distance off. He cared little for the soldiers lost, but his two biggest and finest battering rams were now irretrievably burning to ashes before the very gates they were supposed to destroy. Arrows were still coming down constantly from the walltops, and since their main way in was gone, there was no point standing around like targets for the Saurahallers. They had won this round. And so, hatefully, he gave the signal to pull back.

It did not take Edward’s experienced troops long to heed the command, and very soon they were all backing off to a safe distance from the walls. The defenders watched them go with delight and let out a few victory yells of their own. Astron turned to Rob.

“Rob, go get some more oil and take it to the east and west walls quickly,” he directed. “They’re under attack too, and I think our trick should work perfectly for them.”

Rob nodded and went to fulfill the order, but as it turned out, this was unnecessary. The ram crew attacking the east wall was exceptionally clumsy, and had somehow blunted the ram’s tip against the wall. Those attacking the west wall had been so beset by arrows that after a while no one dared try to touch the ram lest he be shot, and it never reached the gate. Aside from this, when Carl and Ulric saw the main force retreat, they thought it best to retreat too, and abandoned their rams in the process. The sharpened logs were later hauled in as trophies by the victorious defenders.

Saurahall had survived with very few casualties, all told. In the last few minutes, though, Astron had been grazed on the upper arm by an enemy arrow. The cut was b****y, but he made sure all was secure before going down to have it treated.

“Superb, wouldn’t you say, Astron my friend?” spoke Rob with enthusiasm as he passed him on the stairs. “Really showed them.”

“Great going today, Rob,” replied Astron, clamping a claw over his wound. “We certainly proved that we’re willing to put up a fight. But Edward won’t give up that easily. They’ve gone, but not far, and not for long.” He shook his head and sighed. “It’s not over yet.”