The Ear archer 2

CHAPTER 36

Eveliet threw her arms around her brother. The prince clung to her as if she'd disappear and did not fail to respond in kind.
He disentangled himself from his sister to face the northern general.
Gob bowed to the prince who in turn responder with a brief bow of his own.
"Words falls short to emphasize the uniqueness of your fortress.
I for one have only seen this architecture in ancient texts.
I would very much like to ask how you were able to get a hold of such knowledge and execute it in such short amount of time but alas there is no time.
I have with me twenty thousand men and horses.
I thank you for your service but I shall have to take over the position of the fortress commanding general until this threat is past".
"there will be no such thing"
Gob countered.
There was a pin drop silence as Gob defied the prince.
"This is the North and there are rules here, if you want the position of commanding general you will have given challenge me for it.
Until then you are in my fortress and I am the commanding general"
Eveliet let out a high pitched laughter.
"Plaything, are you seriously challenging my brother to a duel?"
"He won't have to" Persus cut in.
He strode straight to Gob and faced off with him.
"For a long time I have sought to put you in your place. I accept your challenge".
"Enough"
the prince's voice broke out.
He drew his blade and held it out,
"General of the North, you have my sword and allegiance, what are your orders?"

"Judging by the smoke we witnessed we have an army at least twenty times our size headed for us.
There are twenty-five thousand men in this fortress, I have twenty thousand boomerangs and a formidable fortress"
"So, the plan is to keep the Alcrons out?"
Persus questioned.
"No, the plan is to let them in"
Persus was furious as he turned to address the prince.
"Will you stand by and let this dullard prattle on or will you take over and spare us his stupidity"
"It matters not who is in charge, the enemy is the Alcrons and he is not wrong, the fortress is built in layers, his plan could work".
"Your wife is in the dungeons"
Eveliet half screamed.
The prince instantly shot her a glance.
"What wife?"
He inquired.
"Forgive me, that was a misstatement because there is no way I'll let you marry a conniving witch such as she".
The prince of Xan turned to Gob.
"Lady Dalian, is she here in the North?"
"She is"
"Why is she in the dungeons"
Gob pointed accusingly at princess Eveliet.
"She threw her there".
The prince shot his sister a look.
"Don't you dare glare at me" Eveliet challenged.
He turned to Gob.
"Bring her to me "

Lady Dalian was brought in chains before the prince.
Gob had ensured that her brief stay in the dungeons was as pleasant as possible.
He had attached two guards to wait on her, it was needless to say not a hair on her head was harmed.
The prince cast his gaze on her, she was exceedingly beautiful.
His sister's voice broke the silence.
"Ask the witch her intent coming to the North"
Eveliet cried.
"Release her"
Instantly, the chains on Lady Dalian's wrist were cut loose.
"Escort Lady Dalian to the
stables".
"Goodbye witch" Eveliet mocked. She didn't notice her brother approach her subtly.
Before she could react, the prince flung her over his shoulders.
Princess Eveliet shrieked as her brother carefully placed her over his shoulders.
"Unhand me this instant" she screamed.
"You have had enough sight seeing. This place isn't safe and you are returning to the encampment".
Eveliet drummed with all her might against her brother's back but it did nothing.
He flirted with the idea of crying.
Her brother was often powerless against her tears.
But she knew her brother was doing it for her safety and would likely not respond to her tears. So she resorted to her last option.
"My plaything, help me".
Gob pretended to be deaf.

The prince of Xan personally attached a chariot to Flame.
He bundled both Dalian and his sister into the chariot.
"I can fight, let me help"
Dalian offered.
"You are no use to anyone is you are dead"
The prince returned.
He kissed his sister on the cheek
" I love you. Be nice to each other and Flame, you're in charge".
Flame neighed in consent and with that pulled out of the stable and unto the road.

Persus with the aid of a hand telescope studied the speed and distance of the smoke.
He calculated the time, they would be at their gates by night fall.
The prince, Gob and Persus put finishing touches to strategy and night fall approached.
The prince knew they Alcrons fought best under the cover of darkness so he endured the fortress was lit up with as many torches as they could.
Inevitably, night fall came and with it came the Alcrons.
The prince, Persus, Gob and twenty-five thousand armed men  stood at the ready on the battlement.
Gob peered through his hand telescope. The Alcrons stretched in number as far his eyes could see.
He had never seen an army as frightening. There was no backing out, he wanted to be commanding general and it was time to perform.
He grabbed a bow and quiver,
"Archers"
Twenty five thousand men including the prince of Xan drew their bows.
"Fire at will"
Arrows were released into the darkness of the night.
Thousands of Alcrons fell but more kept pouring in, it seemed there was an endless supply of them.
Gob knew it was only a matter of time before they reached the gates.
He inserted two arrows into his bow and let them loose, the arrows found their mark in the necks of the Alcrons they were designated to.
He wondered what machinery they would use to break through the gates.
He waited for them to get within range before calling for boomerangs.
Twenty thousand men held their boomerangs at the ready while grand commander Persus activated the mechanism that caused spikes to burst forth from the sides of his shield.
"Throw" Gob yelled.
Twenty thousand men threw their boomerangs while Persus hurled his shield.
The Gob watched with fascination as twenty thousand metal boomerangs beheaded thousands of Alcrons and returned to their master in uniform. It was an amazing sight.
Grand commander Persus grabbed his shield as it returned to him, he didn't waste anytime to dwell on the black slimy Alcron blood that covered his shield, he had seen it a million times without skipping a beat he hurled the second shield.
Like clockwork, he kept throwing his shields.
Despite their best efforts, the Alcrons reached the gates of the Northern fortress.
The gates were made of reenforced metal, Gob watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of Alcrons cast themselves upon the gates in a bid to smash it open some dying in the process.
"Archers, the gates"
Despite that, he knew it was only a matter of time before the Alcrons smashed open the gate and gained entry into the fortress.

AUTHORS NOTE
Recommend a song one can listen to while reading THE EAR ARCHER 2.