They did not so much hold the line as toe it,
nor even toe it so much as wander it aimlessly, grouchily, fearfully. The Former Baron had marked it well, carving
a band through the ash and rubble several metres wide all around the Colony between
lines of faintly luminous chalk. There
had been more ashfall since it had been created, and yet the ash never settled
on the chalk lines and it did not seem to fall so heavily within them either.
On the horizon the cloud of ash which marked
the advancing Stoneskin army was obscured by a much greater one, heading their
way to shower them in even more hot ash.
"I don't know what we're doing
here," one Colonist grumbled to a man who might have been her husband,
Ellis wasn't sure, "has the old man finally lost his mind?"
The man merely shrugged, then hefted up his
weapon, a heavy-looking mace with which he was clearly very uncomfortable. "Who knows anymore," he replied,
"I mean... who knows?"
Ellis caught his gaze for just a second. Lost, dejected, hopeless. He could easily imagine how it must
feel. After all, just a few days ago he
had had the same concerns over the Former Baron, yet now - now that he knew the
nature of the threat faced and the reasons behind the old man's erratic
behaviour - to the extent there ever where reasons - now he had a strange kind
of hope. It reminded him of all Sarah
had said the night before, about light in darkness, about hope being born in
the most unlikely circumstances. The Former
Baron, mad as he was, had earned their trust more than once and now, even
though he had no idea what was about to happen, he found that he did trust the
crazy old Philosopher to save them.
Somehow everything was going to work out for the best. They were going to survive this.
"What are you thinking?" Siren
asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
He reached over and laid his on top of hers,
feeling the warmth of her soft skin and her calloused fingertips. "I was just realising something. We're going to get through this."
Siren stepped forward, faced him,
smiled. "And only a couple of days
ago you were telling me that he was mad."
"He is mad, but... but that doesn't
matter. He's the one person I truly
trust to get us through this. Him and...
and you."
"Ellis..." she sighed, "I
don't know what's going on any more than you do. I'm in the dark here and... and I'm
scared. You cling to me so often and...
and I'm only too glad to pull you along with me but... you can stand on your
own, you know."
Ellis smiled despite himself. "I didn't mean you knew what was going
on, or... or that you weren't scared. I
meant... I trust you, in the midst of all of that to make the right decisions
and to hold strong. And I can stand on
my own, but only because I know I have you... and the others, for support. Sometimes that's the only kind of strength we
can get and... I think it's the best kind of strength there ever is."
He put his arms around her and she leaned in,
resting her head on his shoulder as they stared towards the murky North East.
"They'll be here soon, I think,"
Siren whispered, "but whatever happens... whatever I say and do in this
life... I do love you Ellis."
"I know.
Don't ever doubt that. And I love
you too."
They waited a full hour before there was
anything, really, to wait for. Some of
the Colonists grew too bored, or too scared, to carry on and disappeared back
to their homes, but enough stayed that there was still a sizable force of
people holding the Former Baron's double line.
The children had stayed as well, for the most part, playing games
between the adult's feet with their toys or just their imaginations, chucking
ash at each other and, as the Former Baron had suggested, building ashmen. The grey lumps formed quickly under their
little hands and, by the end of that first hour, there was one every ten metres
or so: a line of ashen sentinels, held together with nothing but water and, in
some cases, sheer will power.
The ash had begun to fall again, although
Ellis could hardly recall when exactly.
Each flake was hot - if not enough to burn - and the air soon turned
sweltering as they drifted down in their gentle dance. Sweat dripped down the faces of those who
stared into the storm-dark day, until it seems that everyone had their own
tracks of charcoal tears across their cheeks, like warpaint.
Then something broke through the ashen gloom
ahead, the first ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred Stoneskins of the advancing
army, swirling the falling ash into a frenzy with their passage and kicking
more into the air with every step. Ellis
could only stare at them as they came, his mind suddenly caged by memory - a
chase through charred streets and ancient trees, the whispering of arrows in
the air and a dark room filled with endless burning, staring eyes. I haven't seen this many since Blackfeather,
he thought. Only, he quickly realised,
this time there were many, many more.
The Stoneskin army's advance seemed
inexorable, almost mechanical in it's inevitable progress, but the creatures
themselves were primitively armed and armoured, each as different in their choice
of weapon and clothing as they were in their size and features. Ellis recognised Spiketails and Grinders, of
course, but there were many more subspecies here present, creeping and crawling
and loping across the ashfield. There
were even a few Slatewings swooping up and down above them all.
Ellis could feel his hope crumbling into
nothing, like a flake of ash in his hand.
"And now," came the voice of the
Former Baron from somewhere within the Colony, booming with the force of his
loudspeaker, "the moment you have all been waiting for. Please make sure you are standing well within
the lines, keep your arms and legs where you can see them and... Merry
Christmas!"
There was a moment of silence within the
Colony, of breath held and motions stilled.
Only the marching of the Stoneskins could still be heard and, cacophonous
as that was fast becoming, even it seemed muted by circumstance and expectation. The moment stretched, empty and uncertain and
then awkward.
“Is anything going to happen?” someone
whispered, and then it did.
The earth began to shake beneath them, really
shake, so that people stumbled and some fell.
This was no gentle beginning, nor subtle commencement, but instant and
terrifying action. Ash vibrated across
the surface between the two lines as machinery came to life somewhere
underneath, revealing patches of bare, brassy metal and all was rising, rising,
rising into the air and taking the Colonists with it. The weaker ashmen crumbled into dust, but
those that still stood suddenly found themselves peering over parapets of
brass-plated concrete. Complex
artillery installations arose from
within the ever-moving structure and those that still had their wits about them
rushed to man them. Others still lay
dazed on top of what was fast becoming a thick, armoured wall, unsure what was
happening and yet almost sure it could be nothing good.
Ellis found himself picking people up,
reassuring them, pointing out to them what was really happening and why he had
such a stupid grin on his face. This was
the salvation he had hoped for, though he would never have articulated anything
so grandly engineered, nor so specific as this.
“Stand up,” he told them, “stand up and stand
your ground. This is the chance we need!”
Siren was doing the same not that far away
and, out of the corner of his eye Ellis caught Annabella rallying together some
of the children and directing them to rebuild some of the fallen ashmen who now
seemed like very really warriors filling in the gaps in their defence.
And then the rising wall stopped still,
thirty feet from ground to plated crenulations, bristling with the weapons and
contraptions of warfare and more than enough citizens to man it well.
The Stoneskin army had come to a halt. Ellis could see confusion in their
ever-glowing eyes. Scouts ran forward,
took one look at the sudden defences and then dashed back into the depths of
the horde. Minutes passed with nothing happening
but a few insults being hurled from the Colony side of the wall, then, without
warning, a huge section of the army turned in their ranks and began to march
south, away from the Colony, leaving a much smaller force behind.
“Did we scare them off?” someone asked.
“Cowards!” another called, as if completely
forgetting the fear and apprehension of the previous couple of hours .
“Wait, there are some still there,” came
another voice, “what are they doing? Why
aren’t they leaving?”
“That’s how few Stoneskins they reckon they
need to destroy us,” Siren said, gritting her teeth, “stand ready!”
There was a beat as every remaining
Stoneskin foot hit the ground at the same time, and each warrior pounded
forward with more force than any mere human could ever muster.
“Here they come!” Siren yelled, and then the
panic really broke loose.
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