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Monday, April 26, 2021

Kingdom Fall: Chapter 23

 

Chapter 23

The sun was starting to approach the western horizon when Sara finally approached Topher, ready to talk about the siege of the Citadel. Topher was starting to get worried that she would never come and talk to him about how best to attack the citadel, but when she did, she was all business. He was a little surprised to see that she had asked General Allison to join them but given his recent behavior, he had no objections. Besides, he was pretty sure they were going to need all the ideas they could get to get around that guardian that protected the place.

As they gathered by the fire, Sara said, "I am looking for ideas on how we can assault that Citadel, gentlemen."

"What about the Woodsman? Do you think he is gone for good?" Topher said.

"I do not know so I want a plan in case he does not return. We have come too far to turn away now. We need to gain access to the inside of the Citadel, so we can find where that magic disc goes, and if possible, to save my husband." She swallowed hard and said, "Destroying the Citadel is our first priority though. You are both respected generals so let us hear some ideas."

"Well, I think we could get that door open. I am sure that the only danger when the guardian is present, so we could work on it in silence, so we do not attract the guarding." Topher said.

"Hmm, I am not convinced we could work for very long," Sara said.

"Maybe we can distract her, keep her busy somewhere else," Topher said.

"Maybe but where would we distract her?" She said.

"I do not know. We would need to do some recon before I could say." Topher said.

The three stood thinking for a moment. General Allison spoke, "What about the main entrance?"

Sara and Topher both looked at him with interest. He continued, "The Woodsman mentioned that there was a main entrance around the corner. Granted, it is going to be guarded, but given the lack of patrols, I would guess the guard is not that heavy. With the element of surprise, we could probably overwhelm them and gain entry there."

Sara and Topher looked at each other and then back to the General. Sara said, "What did you have in mind?"

The general continued, "Well I talked with Captain Walch, whom you sent to guard the front, and he said that he only saw four guards. I got the impression that there is a bit of distance between where he was and where the guards where but if we attacked before dawn while it was still dark, your men should be able to get close enough to take them out."

This idea was one that neither Sara nor Topher had considered as they had been so focused on the Woodsman and the single door. They spent the next hour talking about the plan, even bringing Captain Walch and Private Corval whom both had been on lookout. She was surprised that General Allison had a gift for planning and strategy.

It was dusk, the sun almost fully behind the mountains, when they received word from one of the sentries that a rider was approaching. This put a stop to their planning as they waited to see if it was going to be trouble. Soon, however, word came that it was Major Keller, returning from the battlefront. Sara was glad that he had returned as, even though this mission was important, she needed to know how the war was progressing. She decided to hold off on the planning until after the rider had given his report. She let General Allison stay since he was the first General of Delland and was probably wondering how his army was doing too. Sara sent word to the sentries to let the man pass. It did not take long before Keller came riding into camp. He stopped his horse where the other horses were tied up and proceeded to walk up to Sara and Topher, who were standing together by the fire.

Keller stopped and presented a full salute. Sara noticed that he was not wearing the black outfit of the Midnight Squad but was now wearing a uniform. Sara smiled as Topher returned the salute and then said, "Report."

Keller dropped the salute but still stood at attention. It was in stark contrast to the rest of the squad who were all gathering around in a very casual manner.

Keller began, "First General Orrand sends word that he is glad to find out that you are alive and well and still on mission. He wants you to know that the three wounded soldiers are safe and being looked after. He also received the message that you sent with them."

Sara smiled as she could tell the message was from General Orrand, and it sounded like his style of report. He knew that she would want to know about the wounded first.

Keller continued, "The Alliance forces have engaged the enemy, and although they do have a superior number of elven weapons, we have driven them out of the Rohan Valley and back across the River Jude."

Captain Walch let out a small "Yes" at the news of the Rohan Valley.

Topher said, "That is wonderful news."

"However," Keller said, "the enemy has now fought us to a standstill. The biggest problem are the dragons that the enemy has. Whenever we engage the enemy and gain the upper hand, the dragons come in and pin down our men or drive them back. We have nothing that works against them. Not even our elven magic can penetrate their skin."

A look of concern went over everyone's face. Sara said, "I feared that they would be a problem. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer for them. There was no time to research the elven archives to try to find out how to kill a dragon."

Keller said, "The good news is that it appears she only has about six dragons. The Alliance forces are trying to lure the dragons away and then attacking somewhere else. This is working, but we are making headway very slowly."

"Hmm," Sara said. "I wish we knew how to kill those dragons though. They are always going to be a problem and that tactic will not work forever."

As she stood there thinking a voice from the tree line spoke up. "I can tell you how to kill a dragon."

Sara turned to see who it was and was surprised at how dark it had gotten. It took her a minute to recognize the man as he approached the fire. It was the Woodsman. He stepped up to the fire.

"The dragons have very hard skin of elven armor, but they have one weakness. A dragon cannot fly or even move without their wings. Damage their wings and they become as useful as a giant rock on the ground. I know because I lost a few good men when they were trying to tame the beasts. They would fly too close to some trees, damage their wings and then fall to the ground." the Woodsman said. He then turned to Keller and said, "Tell your General, this is how you kill the dragons. He needs to take as many of his ballistas that he can, and load them with strong bolts, bolts of metal or even solid oak will work. It does not matter what the tip is, what matters is the shaft of the bolt. Then have him place the ballistas in a valley or someplace where he can spring a trap. Have him camouflage them so the men controlling the dragons cannot see them. Then he is going to have to send men out to lure the dragons into the trap. When they fly in low to attack, have the ballistas shoot the wings of the beasts."

Keller said, "Sir, I have seen these great beasts in flight, and you cannot see their wings as they are moving too quickly."

"Yes, they are moving quickly, but you can see an outline of where the wings are moving and if you fire in there with a strong bolt, you will hit and damage the wings. With enough bolts, you will bring down the dragon. Once on the ground, he should have no problem overtaking the men controlling the dragons."

Keller stood there not sure what to do so he looked at Topher and Sara. Sara said, "And this will kill the dragons?"

"Yes. Any good general is going to have a plan to take out his own weapons in case they are ever used against him," he replied.

After a moment, she said, "Very well then."

She was about to say more when the Woodsman said, "Good, and we attack the citadel at first light, and, this time, there will be no distractions. We will destroy that place." He said it with such a tone of finality that he did not wait for a response but instead walked over to where his gear had been placed and began setting up his bivouac.

Sara watched him walk away and then turned back to the men and women around the camp fire. She said, "Well you heard the man, we attack at first light. I suggest we eat a meal and get a good night sleep. Keller, I want to give you a note to take back to General Orrand. I suggest you have something to eat as you will be riding into the night."

"Yes, ma'am." He said and gave a salute.

She returned the salute and said, "Dismissed."

Keller then turned and walked over to Colonel Holms and a couple of other men who were breaking out rations.

Sara spent the next half hour writing a letter to General Orrand. She would have been done sooner, but she kept thinking about the Woodsman and what he must be going through. Destroying the Citadel would mean killing his wife's soul trapped within. It was not something she envied. She wanted to talk to him but by the time she had finished the letter and sent Keller off again, he was already sleeping in his bivouac. She would wait until morning. However, she did have a talk with Topher about how the sentries has let the man slip right into camp without an alarm.

 

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