to the same place. After a bit of a struggle, he made it up to join Tiff.
“Well done, Wasps.” Harold pumped his fist. “Go and tell the brigade leaders to prepare their boys and get them to join me here, Sam. The Wasps will do this.”
And the two Wasps began moving up together, slowly and steadily heading for the ramparts above, but had the cry alerted the Calidorians? March stared at the silent castle and willed it to be so.
Tiff reached the rampart, swung onto it, and was out of sight for a moment; then he reappeared and helped the other Wasp up as the brigade leaders joined Harold.
A spear with a rope attached was sent hard and fast up to the rampart. The throw was perfect. The spear skimmed up past Tiff, and he reached out and caught it as it slowed at the top of its flight. Another spear was sent up as Wasps began to ascend the first rope.
They’re going to make it. Where are the Calidorian guards?
And, as if in answer to March’s question, a shout went up from the castle. A guard had spotted the Wasp boys. It was impossible to see what was happening on the ramparts. There were only two small Wasps up there, but two boys on smoke were worth about six men.
There was more shouting from the Calidorian guards, but more Wasps were climbing the ropes at speed, and the ropes weren’t cut down. Whatever the guards were doing to try to stop them, it wasn’t working. The Wasps were climbing over the ramparts. Tiff appeared and waved.
They’re in. They’ve made it.
But the Calidorians would counterattack. Could the Wasps hold it until more boys joined them?
“Bring everyone to this point,” Harold shouted. “Send up more ropes! I want more boys up there now.” He ran to the castle wall to climb a rope himself as a body fell from above. It landed with a horrible, dull crunch on the paving in front of March, who jumped back, swearing and shaking. Harold didn’t flinch, but merely stepped over the body of the Calidorian guard that was bleeding and broken at his feet.
Harold started to climb, and March and Sam followed. March pulled himself up in the same way that he’d climbed the border wall, but this was different; this was much higher, and, although the smoke made him strong, looking down was terrifying. As March reached the top and leaped over the ramparts, Harold had already joined the fight, killing three men with the first three strikes of his sword. Sam was close to him. Their strength and swordsmanship together were making all the difference. The other boys pressed after them and March followed at the rear, stepping on bodies that now lay two deep on the ground. March wasn’t entirely sure who to cheer for. He wanted the Calidorians to win but didn’t particularly want to be tossed over the ramparts to the ground below.
However, the Calidorians weren’t winning. They were falling back. They weren’t outnumbered, but they couldn’t put more men on the narrow battlements, and Harold and the boys were cutting through the defenses. Soon there was no one left to fight, at least not at this level, but the boys were still far from taking the castle. They were merely in possession of an outer ring. They had to move up and in, but the boys had gained confidence, and it seemed the more they fought, the more they wanted to fight, as if the smoke fed the desire. As for March, he hadn’t thrown even one of his metal shots. All he did was walk over the bodies of the fallen, his thoughts with Edyon.
Just stay safe, Edyon. And please, let the Calidorian guards inside do a better job.
Harold was enjoying himself. “We’re nearly there, boys. We can do this. We can destroy our enemies. A famous victory for my boy army and for Brigant. Calia Castle will be ours.”
More like a famous victory for Harold.
March thought of using his shot. Could he get Harold in the back of the head? Probably, but the boys would turn on him if he tried anything. Then he’d have no chance of helping Edyon at all.
By now some boys were copying the Wasps and trying their climbing skills. A few failed and fell back, but it wasn’t long before the first boy reached the battlements above and sent a rope down. He’d met no opposition. The Calidorians must have retreated