Brechalon (15 page)

“
I’ll send word up to the Captain,”
said the older Dechantagne brother.

“
Children are limited to the aft
deck of the ship,” said Miss Dechantagne, noticing Senta and Graham
for the first time and looking down her nose at them.

“
Children with dragons may go
wherever they wish,” said Zurfina, without turning
around.

* * * * *

“
Kafira’s eyes!” snapped Iolanthe.
“Don’t you know how to knock?”

“
Sorry Ma’am,” said the soldier,
nervously. “Sergeant Clark’s compliments, Ma’am. There is a large
force of lizardmen approaching from the southeast. The sergeant has
already called for all troops to man the ramparts. And the
lizardmen have rifles, Ma’am.”

“
Where the hell did they get
rifles?” wondered Calliere.

“
From our troops,” said Iolanthe,
gravely. “How many lizardmen are there?”

“
We don’t know, at least a
thousand.”

“
Tell the sergeant to hold the
wall,” she ordered. The soldier then ran out of the tent. Turning
to the women, she said. “Thirty five men aren’t going to hold the
wall for long. Get everyone moving. We’re evacuating out to the end
of the peninsula.”

“
What are we going to do there?”
asked Dr. Kelloran.

“
We’re going to make our stand.
Zeah, get some of the men and distribute as many guns and as much
ammunition as we have. Go. Mercy, come with me.”

Iolanthe stepped out of the tent and marched
purposefully toward the wall. Professor Calliere followed along
behind her. When she reached the wall, she gathered up her dress
and extensive petticoats into her left arm and used her right to
climb up the ladder to the walkway that served as a firing platform
twenty feet off the ground. Sergeant Clark was there.

“
Where are they?” she asked,
panting for breath and peering out of a firing port.

“
Still mostly in the trees, but
they’re out there.”

“
And your men?”

“
I’ve got them spread out fifty
feet apart, but that means we’ve only got a fifth of the wall
covered.”

“
I can do the math,” she snapped.
“You aren’t going to fight them from here. Just make them think you
are. I want you to keep them cautious long enough for the colonists
to get out onto the peninsula. Send four men to break the machine
guns out of storage and set them up at that bottleneck four hundred
yards north of the dock. That’s the only place we have a hope of
holding them off.

“
Mercy, you know the place, don’t
you?”

Calliere nodded.

“
Good. You supervise. Get those
machine guns set up.”

Calliere nodded again and rushed back down the
ladder. Sergeant Clark called four men and ordered them to follow
the professor. Iolanthe turned back to the soldier.

“
I’ll send word to you when to fall
back,” she said. “Remember Clark. You cannot fall back until those
colonists are out near the coast. If those tribesmen get past our
trap, it will be a bloodbath.”

“
I understand.”

The Voyage of the Minotaur

Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 1

Available now at Smashwords.com

$ 4.95

Receive $1.00 Off with this code DW38Q until
February 3, 2011

About the Author

Wesley Allison is a teacher and author and
lives in Henderson, Nevada with his wife Victoria, his daughter
Becky and his son John. For more information about the author and
upcoming books, visit http://amathar.blogspot.com.

Books by Wesley Allison

Princess of Amathar

His Robot Girlfriend

Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Elven
Princess

Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Sorceress

Brechalon: Senta and the Steel Dragon Book
0

The Voyage of the Minotaur: Senta and the Steel
Dragon Book 1

Coming Soon

Tesla’s Stepdaughters

The Dark and Forbidding Land: Senta and the
Steel Dragon Book 2