The Unsuspecting Mage (57 page)

“Apparently sometime last night the Empire’s forces were sighted nearing the City,” he explains, pausing a moment to see what effect his words are having.

“Go on,” James prompts him.

“And they’ve shut the gates, no one is allowed in or out,” he tells him. “We’re under siege!”

Nodding, James says, “I was afraid of that. When I’m done we’ll look around the City and see if we can figure our way out of here.” Eating the last of the bread and beginning to feel better, he goes over to the bags and begins to dump out everything.

Miko comes over and looks oddly at what he’s doing.

“We’re getting rid of everything but the most important stuff,” he explains. “One bag each.” So they begin to sort through what they have and finally narrow it down to just enough items to give each of them half a bag. James takes the money and divides it equally between them.

When he hands Miko his half he says, “Just in case we either get separated or one of the bags gets lost.”

Miko nods understanding and puts his money pouch within his bag.

“Now,” James says as he gets shakily to his feet, “let’s go see what’s happening outside.” He goes over to the door and looks out the small window next to it. Seeing no one close by he opens the door and they make their way quickly into the street. Smoke still rises from the charred remains of several buildings and about a third of the wharf area.

They walk down the street, away from the smoldering wreckage. They can hear the sound of horns on the fields outside of the walls along with the whisk of arrows being fired by the defenders atop the walls. All the townspeople are strangely absent, the streets vacant of the usual mass of people.

As they continue along a member of the city guard takes notice of them and says, “No one is allowed on the streets. You will have to return to your homes.”

“Alright,” James responds, “we didn’t realize.”

The guard stands there and watches as they turn around and head back the way they came. After going down a ways, they turn down a side street and James comes to a stop. “Damn!” he swears. “I hadn’t figured on there being a curfew.” He stands there thinking for a second before saying, “Makes sense though.”

“Should we go back to the warehouse where we were?” Miko asks.

Nodding his head slowly, James replies, “Probably would be the best thing to do. I doubt if they are going to breach the walls anytime soon,” he reasons. “So we’ll try again tonight when we are not so conspicuous.”

They return through the streets to the warehouse where they discover a stairway inside along one wall leading to the roof. Hoping to get a good view of what is happening in the city, they climb the stairs and pass through the trapdoor to the roof.

Atop the roof they have a fair view of the city, the walls still rising higher than the warehouse’s roof. Several thousand men line the walls, archers fire arrows down at the attackers. They see a crossbow bolt strike one of the archers on the wall and watch as he plummets off the wall and lands with a squishy thud on the street below.

The roofs of many buildings throughout the city have a number of people upon them as well, apparently having the same idea as they. Looking toward the remaining docks, James sees a ship disembarking soldiers and supplies. With the curfew in effect, there is no longer a mob at the docks, fighting to board the approaching ships. However there are several squads stationed in and around the dockside just in case of trouble.

“James, look!” Miko says as he points to five wagons making their way toward the dockside. They can see that the wagons are loaded with many boxes and crates. An old man sits on the lead wagon, “I guess Ollinearn finally got all his books packed. Glad he’s going to make it out of the city.”

“Maybe if we could get to him, he would take us with him?” Miko asks, looking hopeful.

James gazes out over the city at the many squads patrolling the streets between Ollinearn and them. Turning to Miko he says, “I doubt if we’d make it that far.”

Feeling disappointed and mad, Miko watches as Ollinearn trundles to the docks and begins to load the last of his books on one of the waiting ships.

The clash of swords draws their attention to a section of the wall somewhat close to where they stand. Several attackers have managed to gain the wall and reinforcements are running to beat them back.

The fighting on the wall where the enemy has achieved a foothold is fierce, but the attackers are outnumbered and it isn’t long before the last one falls. A cheer rises from the defenders as the wall is once again secure.

“That was close,” Miko comments.

“I’d hate to be up there,” says James, watching as men remove the dead and wounded. The enemy soldiers they simply toss over the side to land on their comrades below.

The rest of the day progresses pretty much the same. The Empire’s army storms the walls, the defenders fight them back, and occasionally the attackers gain a foothold on the wall only to have the defenders cut them down, securing the wall once again. There were two brief respites in which the attackers withdrew, regrouped and then commenced their assault all over again.

They both take turns sleeping while the other keeps watch and by the end of the day, James is feeling much improved.

As the sun begins to sink toward the horizon, horns are heard from the field outside the walls as the attackers withdraw. When it becomes apparent that no attack is imminent, the men on the walls begin to be rotated off in shifts for meals and rest.

People begin to emerge from their homes and the streets once more become crowded. Many make their way to the Keep to see about loved ones who had been manning the walls.

“It seems the curfew has been lifted while the assault has stopped,” observes James. “This may be a good time for us to see about getting out of here, if that’s even possible.”

“Do you feel better?” Miko asks.

“Some,” James tells him. “My headache is only a dull throbbing now.” He feels the bump on the side of his head and says, “I think the swelling’s gone down from where they struck me. Being able to rest for a day has sure done wonders.”

They come down off the roof, grab their bags and leave the warehouse to merge with the people now back on the streets. They make their way toward the docks and find that the east side has been cordoned off and is guarded by several squads of the city guard. They are told that area is for the unloading of supplies and men.

They make their way to the western side of the docks where a mass of people have gathered. A man stands upon a wagon and is addressing the crowd. “…are going to come and help evacuate the City. They will pull up to the dock and at that time, in an orderly fashion, those at the head of the line will board quickly. Anyone, and I do mean
anyone
,
who causes trouble or becomes a nuisance will be dealt with severely.”

Looking behind him, the man on the wagon sees the first of the rescue boats pulling up to the docks. He raises his hands to get the crowds attention. When they’ve quieted down he says loudly, “The first boat is here and more are on the way.” He signals to a squad of guards on the docks and says, “Start loading.”

When the crowd hears that, they surge toward the docks, pushing and shoving to be first to get on the boat. “Do not push!” the man says to the crowd, “the boats will be coming all night long and as long as needed to get everyone out.”

One man pushes an old lady down and runs for the boat, a guard sees him and moves to intercept. The man starts to fight with the guard, but is soon clubbed senseless. “Take him away,” the man on the wagon yells to the guards. Raising his voice even further he yells, “He will be the
Last
one allowed on the boats!”

When the people hear that they become a bit more orderly and soon an orderly line is formed as they wait for the first boat to fill. Other boats are waiting their turn to approach the docks to help evacuate the populace.

“Let’s get in line,” James says. “Looks like we’ll make it out of here after all.”

The boats are those of private citizens from neighboring cities. None of them are able to carry a lot of people, but slowly and surely, the line continues to move.

The sun drops behind the horizon and torches are lit to provide light for the people and the arriving boats. At one point a boat loaded with evacuees sails from the docks and no new boat takes its place. Several minutes pass and still no other boat approaches to continue the evacuation. A low murmur can be heard developing within the waiting crowd.

The man gets back up on the wagon and addresses the increasingly restless people. “Do not worry!” he yells out over the crowd. “They will return when they have dropped off their passengers at a safe port. More boats than what you’ve already seen are on their way. They must travel from farther away, but they will come!”

The crowd quiets down and settles in to wait patiently. Several more hours pass and more boats appear to take on passengers and then quickly sail away, making room for the next one in line.

Ta-TOOOOO Ta-TOOOOO

The sounds of many horns can be heard coming from the eastern wall, as well as faint sounds of swords exchanging blows. The crowd around James and Miko begins growing restless and the look of fear can be seen on many of their faces.

A rider approaches at a gallop and halts near the man who addressed the crowd. “My lord!” the rider cries out to him, “they’re in the city!”

When the crowd hears that the enemy is within the city, all thoughts of orderly evacuation vanishes. As one, the crowd surged forward toward the boat that’s currently loading passengers. They swarm over it, knocking each other out of the way and into the water. A knife flashes and a woman screams as she falls into the Sea. They overload the small pleasure craft past its limits. The mass of people upon the craft cause it to tip over, spilling everyone into the water as it sinks to the bottom.

The other captains waiting in line to pick up refugees, after having witnessed what just happened, turn their boats around and sail away, not willing to risk their boats or their lives with the panicked mob.

The people on the dock cry out for them to return but to no avail. Then absolute panic sets in as they realize that rescue is no longer forthcoming. People jump into the Sea and try to swim while the majority of the people just run in every direction, trampling to death many of their neighbors.

James and Miko flow with the mob until they can get away from it down a side alley. “What are we to do now?” Miko asks, fear evident in his voice.

“Maybe we can swim out around the walls and past the armies,” suggests James.

Miko brightens at the idea and says, “Let’s go!”

They slowly make their way through the press of the crowd until they come to the water’s edge. The Sea is full of swimming bodies, many having the same idea as James. They get ready to enter the water when screams begin coming from out in the water.

Crossbow bolts are flying into those in the water, striking all who are trying to escape. James can barely make out dozens of enemy crossbowmen lining the shores, firing at the helpless people in the water.

“Not this way,” he says and they race off into the city.

_______________________

The sound of fighting increases as the enemy continues to gain more and more ground within the City. People are running every which way, no one seems to know where to go. James and Miko continue racing through the streets trying to stay clear of the fighting.

Several fires have broken out within the city casting an eerie glow to the night. James can see where the enemy has gained a foothold upon several sections of the walls, their crossbowmen beginning to rain bolts down upon the defenders from the height of the walls.

“This is going to be over soon,” he tells Miko as they pause for a moment to try to decide the best direction to go.

“How did they get inside the walls so fast?” Miko asks. “Everyone said that it would take them weeks to breach these walls, maybe longer.”

“Remember the rider who came up while we were waiting to board the boats?” James reminds him. “He said they were poisoned and I have a good idea who was behind it.”

“Who?” Miko asks.

“Ol’ One Eye,” James replies. “When we were looking through the window to the warehouse he was giving a vial and what looked to be sacks of coins to someone. My guess is that the vial contained the poison that was used on the guards at the gate.”

While his men tie their hands behind their backs, he says, “Fairly easy actually. I saw you in line at the docks waiting to board one of those damn boats. I set a man to watch in case you left the line. When the panic started, it was easy enough to follow and catch you.”

“Why bother with us?” James asks.

“I have my reasons,” he replies and then sets off with them in tow toward where the fighting is the fiercest. Heading for the east gate, they occasionally have to duck down alleys whenever soldiers of Cardri race past.