Chapter 3: Siege (Part 2)

Nogalos, Kingdom of Semidur
Day Seventy-Two of the Siege of Demula

Guard Captain Tamahra Barranon strode through the austere stone hallways of the Semiduroin palace in Nogalos. Passing a spacious window alcove, Tamahra could see the great capital of the Semiduroin sprawling like a jewel into the southern distance, a city of almost a million people. From rooftops and short towers, banners flapped that proclaimed the barons that governed each of the city's twenty-seven barony-districts. From the window, too, Tamahra could see the canopies and crowds of the innumerable bazaars being held at any one time in the squares of the city. He could almost imagine the cries of the vendors and the bawling bargaining of the buyers.

But from this height, at least twenty-five paces above the rest of the city, precious little could be heard save for the gentle whoosh of the spring wind. Tamahra hurried along anew through the empty echoing corridors of the palace, his sense of mission already chiding him for delaying time by that window. He passed servants, rushing in the opposite direction, carrying boxes of cutlery or other assorted items meant for serving guests at a meal. Occasionally, Tamahra would salute the passing members of the royal household that he saw rushing in that same direction. The banquet was beginning; Tamahra quickened into a trot, determined to see the King before he left his apartments to descend into the Grand Diners' Hall where the guests would already be arriving.

Not a moment too soon; he caught His Majesty Rodrano IV at the entrance to his private apartments, his twenty-man guard forming up on either side of him, ready to escort him to the Hall. Stopping in front of Rodrano, Tamahra turned to face his left shoulder to his king, bowed--it was only when permission was expressly granted that one could speak to royalty face to face.

Rodrano signed that Tamahra should speak. Another bow, and Tamahra requested permission to walk beside Rodrano. Granted, and the procession began its stately way to the banqueting hall. 'Your Majesty,' began the guard captain, 'I bring news. A group of adolescents await in the gardens between the Grand Gate and the Inner gate, in answer to your call. I have seen their machie, and if your Majesty permits me to say so, it has great potential for the power you need, and is worth your time seeing.'

Rodrano did not slow down his pace, but his eyes lit up in earnest. 'It has been more than two moons since my son began the siege, and that good-for-nothing has committed so many mistakes that he has allowed the Voruna army to enter their stronghold, knowing full well how impregnable it is, leaving our army powerless to destroy it, mighty as it is. Well, they have come forth, at long last. Someone, at last, from this wide land! And just when I was wondering why no one had come forth at all among the millions I rule. If these have truly come up with something that can breach the walls of Demula then I will gladly double the promised reward.'

'Well, your Majesty, permit me to suggest that the reason why no one has come forth so far is most probably your threat of penalty on those whose ideas failed to live up to your expectations. Furthermore, these young ones came from the far west carting the materials for the engine all the way, on foot.'

'Ah, yes. The penalties. Let us speak no more of it. Guard Captain, lead us to where they wait.' Turning to his seneschal, Rodrano addressed the older man. 'Ardon, go to the banquet and inform the guests to wait at my pleasure, for I wish to attend to this matter first. If they ask further, just say that it is a matter of utmost importance for the kingdom.' Without waiting for his seneschal's bowing withdrawal, Rodrano proceeded onwards. Tamahra hurriedly took the lead before his king, guiding him down from the upper levels of the palace into the public lower levels of the compound and into the inner courtyard. Behind them towered the edifice of the palace, its inner half built upon a rocky hill leading to a cliff precipitating into the raging northern sea.

Ahead of them, the Inner Gate loomed, eight paces high in a strong masonry-and-brick wall of twelve tall, set with gold and bronze. The four guards at the gatesaluted as they recognised the King in the failing light and beginning flickerings of the first suddenly-manifest torches. Beyond the inner walls lay secondary buildings and servant's quarter, and flanking the two-hundred-pace path to the Grand Gate, a great garden stretched for the same length to either side. Halfway down the path, as the entourage moved past an obscuring stand of trees, Rodrano saw it.

A massive contraption stood in a clearing next to a small grove of maples. A rectangular base of massive wooden beams stood on four great wheels rimmed with a thin layer of copper. A great arm stretched vertically upwards from the base, terminating in a metal cup huge enough for a man to curl up within. A rope as thick as a wrist joined the arm to a huge winch at the back of the machine. As Rodrano drew closer to the machine, he espied a pile of huge stone balls lying next to a pulley system clearly designed for lifting the boulders into the cup. The entire siege engine's size astounded him, towering three times his height.

As he approached, a group of teens resting on the ground spotted the soldiers making their way over, and hustled into frantic action. They numbered about ten, and seemed only to be about sixteen years of age. One hurried up to the approaching men.

'Your majesty, we are ready for the demonstration. We will not fail you.'