Asgoleth the Warrior - By Bill Kirkwood Page 0,14

rubbing sleep from their eyes and buckling on their weapons as they ran. None needed to be urged on, they all knew what would happen to themselves and to the people of Torr should their enemies ever manage to break through their defences. They could expect no mercy from the cruel Akonites.

Lord Arindor, the commander of Fort Kronos, was just buckling on his sword belt when the door of his chamber flew open. He glanced up sharply then nodded when he recognised Micah, his sergeant at arms. These two old warriors had served together for over twenty years. They had fought side by side in the thick of battle and had endured many hardships together. Each owed the other his life many times over and theirs was a bond of mutual respect and friendship which allowed them to treat each other as equals, despite their difference in rank.

Arindor frowned when he saw the grim look on Micah’s face.

‘What ails you Micah? Surely you are not worried by the appearance of a few Akonites.’

Micah shook his head gloomily and said,

‘I think we might be in trouble this time old friend. I have never seen so many of them before and there is something different about them too. They have made no effort at all to conceal their approach but instead march straight towards us as if they are sure of victory. I don’t like it. Not one bit.’

Arindor was too experienced a soldier to dismiss the gut feelings of his men. He knew Micah was a brave man, fearless in battle. If such a one as he was worried, then he had good cause to be. He clapped Micah on the shoulder as he strode towards the door of his quarters.

‘Come then old friend, let us go and see exactly what is coming at us.’

As he emerged he noted with satisfaction the smooth and efficient way his troops were preparing for battle. The walls were fully manned with alert warriors. The baskets of the catapults were loaded with mounds of fist sized stones which would cause havoc in the ranks of an advancing foe. Archers stood ready with arrows nocked and beside them were men equipped with long poles which would be used to push away the scaling ladders of the enemy. Smoke was rising from small fires in iron pots beside which stood containers of pitch into which arrows could be dipped and set alight before being sent in among the enemy. All that could be done had been done and they were ready to face whatever the Akonites sent against them.

As he climbed onto the ramparts he cast an eye over the stout fortress. The walls straddled the mouth of the Khilbar Pass and they stood forty feet high and twenty feet thick. Above this massive barrier the cliffs on both sides had been hollowed out and row upon row of firing slits pockmarked the cliff faces, each slit concealing an archer ready to pour death down upon any invaders; behind the first huge wall, at a distance of fifty yards, stood another barrier as large as the first. No enemy had ever managed to pass even the first wall let alone the second. Arindor intended to keep it that way.

He nodded to himself in satisfaction then he turned his attention to the advancing ranks of the enemy out on the plains. His eyes narrowed at what he saw there. Rank upon rank of mail clad men met his gaze, their lines stretching off and fading into the distance. He could detect no sign of siege engines or of catapults or of battering rams. Only infantry and cavalry could he see and he began to share Micah’s unease. How did the Akonites expect to breech these walls without siege equipment?

Arindor despised the Akonites for their cruelty but he did not underestimate their fighting ability. They were fierce and terrible fighters. He had seen them sacrifice hundreds of men so that a mere few could gain the top of the walls. He knew they feared death, as did any man, but they feared their commanders more. Perhaps, he told himself, their siege equipment was still out of sight although that would be the first thing he would have brought to bear against a walled defence. He shook his head and looked at Micah.

‘I see what you mean. There is indeed something very odd about all this.’

Micah merely nodded and the two men stood and watched the approach of their ancient