the back of the city, and then turn back towards the main road that will lead us into the Keep. The sight is not good.
The battle has made it almost as far as the front gates of the Keep, which still stand partially open. Men run inside, seeking cover. A troll is whisking men aside, running on all fours to make it there before the gates of the Keep close. His club has been abandoned.
“Take James,” I command Percival. “I’ll distract the troll.”
“What?” they both refuse.
“Go. Go now.” James leans on Percival and they make for the gate. Then I drop my hammer and pull out my bow.
The shot is the most accurate I’ve shot in months, though it’s still not where I was aiming, which was his eye. Instead the arrow pierces his large ear, going through it and tacking it to the side of his head. He roars and looks my way, away from the gate; immediately I drop the bow and pick up the hammer. His colossal hand reaches up and snaps the arrow from his thick skull, and his ear bounces back, now dripping with blood. Out of my peripheral vision I see James and Percival enter the Keep.
The troll, instead of charging me like I had expected, turns to the nearest house and pulls off a chunk of the stone brick as large as its hand can grasp. All I can think is Uh-oh.
The beast twists and catapults the stone directly at me. I turn and take cover behind an almost identical house, and the stone brick smashes into the street where I had been standing. I peek out around the corner, and another block of stone crashes into the wall, shattering on impact and cracking the wall. There’s relative silence. Fire crackling, the clang of swords and shields. Then I jump out and swing my hammer at the stealthy brute.
My hammer hits his head into the wall of the house. He grunts and lashes out with one of his grotesquely long arms, throwing me a few feet so I clip my shoulder on the corner of the house and hit the street hard. Slowly I force myself up, but the troll seems as dazed as I am. He pounds towards me on all fours and makes to tackle me, and I lack the awareness to do anything but duck and throw a knife as hard as I can.
It enters his right shoulder. He shrieks and his right arm gives out underneath his weight, veering him to my left and into a building, where he crashes forcefully enough to shake thatch from the roof. He turns clumsily, but I am stumbling away as quickly as I can muster.
He scrambles with the knife for a moment, but it buys me just enough time to get into the Keep. Soldiers are still fighting just outside the doors.
“Come on, Kadmus!” I hear. The voice brings strength to my bones and I rush forward to my father, who ushers me in the gate and to temporary safety.
“Inside!” people yell. “Get inside!”
“Shut the gate!” bellows one voice in particular. Lord Jarl Hralfar stands on the balcony overlooking the main entrance hall. Voices echo his command and the gate booms shut as stragglers run inside. “Close the portcullis!” he booms.
Though I cannot see the portcullis, I hear it thunder shut and clang as it hits the stone floor just outside the gate.
“On the walls!” Hralfar commands. “Archers, take positions! We must hold the Keep!”
We must hold the Keep.
Battle for Nringnar’s Deep
The first thing I do is take a head count. We’re all here, miraculously, including Nathaniel.
My father and Bownan are unhurt, with minor scratches. Leon is sporting a laceration across his right cheek. Percival and Darius, his father, are both unscathed. Jericho’s cut on his arm has reopened and he has a limp. His father has a few scratches, as does Nathaniel. James is in bad shape.
He groans as we roll up his chainmail and remove the shoulder pad. His left arm is black and blue. “Fracture,” says Bownan. “No doubt. Probably in a few spots by the look of it.”
“We have to get him to the infirmary,” I voice. “I’ll take him.”
“No Kadmus,” says my father. “We need you here.”
“Aye,” agrees Bownan.
“Jericho and I’ll take him,” volunteers Leon. “We need to go get ourselves cleaned up anyway.”
“Very well,” I mutter. Then I pat James on his good shoulder and say, “I’ll see you in a few.” He only nods.
“How’d you