The Fallen World

The House Wars - Part 3

     The work proceeded slowly and quietly, the wizard freezing in place whenever a Traldian soldier came too close. The knife was sharp and sliced through the rope's woven fibres with little effort, but just when he was thinking that the worst was over he pulled the knife at slightly the wrong angle, making the rope slide against the side of the wardrobe with a loud rasping noise. The enemy soldiers jumped up in alarm, reaching for their weapons, and Jerry and Lirenna cast their sleep spells over Thomas’s shoulders, making several of them collapse unconscious.

     The other soldiers started in shock, wondering what terrible new weapon the Konnens had found, but then some of them got themselves under control and shot a volley of arrows at the airlock. Thomas dodged back behind the wardrobe, forgetting his shield spell in his fear, but the spell worked anyway and the enemy soldiers were even more alarmed to see their arrows striking nothing but empty air. Jerry, meanwhile, snatched the knife from his hand and finished cutting through the rope.

     The three wizards then pushed together and the section of barricade collapsed with a loud clatter which, together with the shouts of the defenders, roused the entire enemy camp, bringing dozens of enemy soldiers out into the corridor-street. More arrows came flying at them, bouncing off the shield spell, and as soon as the enemy soldiers came within range of their sleep spells Thomas and Jerry sent another eight of them into spell induced unconsciousness.

     Jerry and Lirenna, having used up their meagre supply of magic, then retreated back into the airlock, but were pushed roughly aside by dozens of Konnen soldiers running through to take advantage of the momentary gap in the enemy’s defences. Thomas remained at the forefront of the fighting for a few moments longer, though, while a pair of Konnen soldiers sheltered behind his magical shield and shot arrow after arrow at the defenders, but after about fifteen minutes he felt the spell begin to fade and he edged his way back.

     At that moment, though, a Traldian soldier appeared from out of nowhere, rising up with a scream of fury to swing a huge broadsword in a mighty arc, chopping the Konnen soldier beside him almost in half. Thomas was sprayed with blood and staggered backwards in terror as the Traldian freed his sword and prepared to do it again, this time at him. The other Konnen soldier tried to come around to cover him, all the soldiers having been ordered to protect the wizards at any cost, but Thomas’s foot slipped in the puddles of gore and he fell heavily to the ground, taking the Konnen soldier with him.

     The fall saved him from the Traldian’s first attack and he felt the huge broadsword whistling an inch past his ear. The huge sword’s momentum carried it on, completing its wide arc before the Traldian could get it under control again, and during the brief respite Thomas searched frantically among his pockets for a small stick with a piece of cobweb wrapped around it. The soldier raised his sword, ready to bring it savagely and mercilessly down on Thomas’s sprawling form, and the wizard was just barely able to point the stick and cast the spell in time.

     Long strands of sticky web shot from the pointing stick, wrapping themselves around the soldier and entangling him helplessly. Thomas scrambled back to his feet, slipping and sliding in the pool of blood and getting it all over himself, feeling elated as the enemy soldier fell to the ground, struggling futilely as the webs contracted and tightened.

     He backed away from the frantically struggling Traldian soldier, wanting to be back in the airlock before the webs dried up and crumbled away, but a Konnen soldier stepped forward and, before Thomas could stop him, he ran the Traldian through with his sword.

     Thomas was astonished and outraged, and ran forward to grab him by the arm before he could strike again. “What are you doing?” he demanded. “You said you’d take them prisoner!”