A Soldier's Life
chapter-57

The morning air quickly became humid as I walked over to the stairs. I only had one canteen as Felix had taken the rest. I sipped it and sat near the backpacks, just a few feet from the others. I was not worried about the fight coming anytime soon as I knew how narrow and treacherous the steps were. I was only twenty feet away and could quickly support the others guarding the top of the ascent. My seat also gave me a view of the aqueduct where most of our company was positioned.

I looked up into the sky, and four griffins circled well outside of bow shot range. The clear, pale blue morning sky gave them a nice backdrop. The morning was too picturesque. Besides the twang of the single bow on the aqueduct, it did not feel like we were going to be fighting for our lives. A second archer joined the first on the aqueduct. My guess was Delmar was conserving arrows until the men had better targets.

Flavius fired a single arrow from the top of the stairs. He was the only legionnaire at our position with a bow. I had three bows in my dimensional space, well, four if you included the elf bow. But that was a long bow compared to the legion composite short bow.

All eyes were turned away from me, so I produced the quiver with seventeen arrows and the minor essence of power from my dimensional space. My aether had barely recovered, and it took nearly all my aether to bring out the two objects. It was a risk as they may have counted all the arrows when they got up here. It had been dark then, so it could be said someone overlooked a single quiver. They were going to be more useful to the archers than to me.

I should have stockpiled arrows in my dimensional space. Next opportunity, I would do a better job. I put the essence into my mouth, savoring the euphoria of the minor power essence. Strength was the only physical trait I had not taken an essence for now. I had a major essence for strength in my dimensional space but figured the minor essence was all I could handle so soon after the dexterity essence. Just some minor indigestion followed in the few minutes after.

A third Bowman on the aqueduct was now firing, and a few return arrows were starting to appear from below. The aqueduct was almost 90 feet off the ground where they were positioned. The fifteen archers of the company were patient, standing and firing, and then kneeling out of visual range of the Bartiradians below. Behind the row of archers were men in the center of the aqueduct waiting with our leaders for orders. On the other side of the aqueduct were two archers and three spotters looking for enemy movement.

Brutus stepped back to talk with me, “Once they see the men climbing the stairs, they will send others to reinforce our position.” He paused, inhaled, and continued, “Eryk, I am sorry for leaving you. I did not know how many scouts they sent forward. After your fall, I thought it would be suicide to come to you, especially after you greased the steps.”

I looked Brutus in his eyes, “There was nothing you could have done to help me after I fell. In your situation, I would have done the same thing.” I looked at the archers firing and asked, “How many arrows do they have?”

“Not many. I think they counted three hundred and fifty-something before they went out there. Twenty arrows each, I think they said. Flavius has another thirty,” Brutus said gloomily. As we watched, one of the men took an arrow in the eye and tumbled forward off the structure. “That was Cathius from my old company. He had three children,” Brutus announced softly.

I could hear echoes of metal from below. That meant the heavier armored men had reached our position. Delmar had the men sliding before standing and quickly firing now. An archer took an arrow in the chest, and two men pulled him back from the edge to help him. One of the archers on the other side fired an arrow below and turned and said something to Castile.

“Bastards,” Brutus muttered and pointed in the distance. Maybe half a mile down the aqueduct, the enemy was climbing up ropes, like little ants trying to swarm a picnic table. “If the general is smart, he will form up men there and rush the aqueduct and stairs simultaneously.”

Adrian was not going to let this happen. Even with only one good arm, he drew a sword and pulled five men to him, all from Gregor’s company, I think, and they splashed down the aqueduct with shields forward to stop the climbing Bartiradians. They might have a chance if he could cut the ropes quickly enough.

The enemy arrows suddenly picked up, causing everyone to crouch low for cover. A griffin swooped down and lifted one of the men running with Durandus. It only carried him far enough to drop him to the rocks. Two of our archers fired arrows, and one struck the griffin on the wing at two hundred yards. The griffin flapped its wings in pain and did not rise. It glided to the ground.

“At least they shouldn’t try that again,” I muttered.

I picked up a spear from the gear pile and sheathed my sword. I moved behind the other men on the stairs as the shouts from below were increasing in intensity. Maybe they found the general’s sister and would withdraw to figure out how she got there. I hoped she had not died after I left her. Not because I cared for her life, but if she lived, the general might be less hell-bent on our decimation.

Adrian had reached the climbing Bartiradians, and it was too far to see clearly what was happening. The rope that two men were climbing suddenly let go, and they fell to the ground. My group cheered as the second and third ropes were cut. Still, Adrian and the men were slightly outnumbered.

As the battle a half mile away raged in the water of the aqueduct, the arrows from below suddenly increased. Flavius turned to us, “They are going to be coming soon at the stair soon.” He moved to the right, and I stood behind our two men with round shields with my spear ready. We could hold this position easily with the seven men we had, with the stairs being so narrow.

Flavius seemed a little unsure. “They should be here by now…”

The racket of metal and a foreign tongue below was extreme, and Brutus started laughing. “Do you know what they are saying?” I asked him gripping my spear tightly.

“Your butter trick seemed to work. They think the steps are spelled with a grease spell. They are calling for a mage to burn it away,” he continued laughing, and everyone joined with him. It was a very small victory.

Flavius looked around and ordered, “Brutus and Eryk, gather some rocks. About the size of a head. You will need to go to the water to get them, but we can roll them down the steps to slow them.”

I looked around with Brutus, and all the close stones were massive. Along the shoreline, there were numerous stones. I leaned my spear against a rock, grabbed the first stone, and rushed back. On my return trip, I could see Adrian and just two men returning with him. All three were struggling to get back, obviously injured. It also looked like our archers had also thinned some, but I did not know if they were injured or dead.

On my third trip with a stone, an intense heat washed up the steps. Causing everyone to step back. Their mage was burning the butter away. “Eryk and Brutus get your spears ready.”

My spear was by the water, and I raced to grab it. It only took seconds, but as I returned, arrows were flying everywhere from below. The Bartiradians were firing blindly as they could not see us. The men on the aqueduct and the men at the top of the stairs were seeking cover from the barrage. This was the Bartiradian push. A lucky arrow took Flavius in the chest as he stood and returned fire. It did not look bad as he continued to draw and shoot with the arrow in him.

Lirkin, on his knees, was rolling the six rocks we had gathered down the steps. To my ears, it sounded like there were a thousand men below from the cacophony of sounds. I could not find fear, though, just—anticipation. As the arrows paused on our position, the aqueduct men were not as lucky. I saw another archer fall off the aqueduct from an arrow strike. The heavy storm of arrows continued to pin them down. The first Bartiradian came up the steps with a shield in front of him. Spears pushed him and hacked at him. He did not last long before Brutus speared his groin, and Mateo slashed his neck.

I was focused on the steps but noticed men coming back from the aqueduct. Konstantin reached us first. He had lost his helm and was bleeding from a long gash on the side of his scalp, “We are out of arrows! But a few men are climbing the bloody cliffs to flank us! We need to get ready; they are over halfway up!”

“There is a quiver by the packs, and Flavius’ quiver is still half full,” I told Konstantin, who paused, grabbed both quivers, and tossed them to Blaze, who had arrived. Blaze was soaked but uninjured as he smirked at more ammunition. Flavius was now sitting as he was attending to his arrow wound.

Adrian appeared and sat heavily among the packs, bleeding from numerous wounds. I gave him a canteen and started to help the others arriving. From the our left, Konstantin yelled, “I am going to need help over here.”

Delmar, who was uninjured, looked around, “Felix, Kolm, Eryk, and Antonio; go help, Konstantin.” I scrambled up the rocks with the others who were all free of serious injury. Kolm was bleeding from his knee, but that was from falling and not an enemy. Antonio was from Gregor’s men, and he had a thigh wound from an arrow but still moved fairly well. We scrambled up the rocks together for higher ground and to join Konstantin.

Konstantin nodded as we came. “They were almost up in this area; maybe a dozen were brave enough to attempt the climb.” The cliff was steep and not a climb I would have tried myself.

“How do our chances look?” I asked Konstantin, knowing he would tell me the truth.

“As long as they do not have more men coming from the city, we can hold. Adrian thinks they used all their grapples in their first attempt to climb the aqueduct. A griffin can get them more in an hour or two if they think of it, but we should be able to hold.” Konstantin said reassuringly.

Felix offered with a smile, “The archers took down maybe fifty men and Adrian’s squad another dozen. Besides, Firth took an arrow in the ass. We have to survive this just so we can mock him about it.”

The first Bartiradion scrambled up over the edge of the cliff, and Antonio went to engage him near the edge. As he approached, a dozen arrows came at him from below, all fired blindly, four connecting. One went through his throat, and he fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. Without healing potions, there was nothing we could do for Antonio.

Konstantin voiced the obvious, “Stay away from the edge. We will engage them here. They will be tired from the climb and only come at us in pairs at most. Work together, and this will be easy.” The Bartiradians signaled when a climber was about to reach the top by sending a flight of arrows to cover the last part of his climb. We were out of the path and not endangered at all.

The next hour was a bloodbath for the climbers. We killed fifteen on our side, and another group killed eight on the other. The attack slowed, and we waited. A griffin high above shrieked, and we all looked up. “Look!” Konstantin pointed over the lake. A single flyer was streaking toward us. It was not a griffin but the silhouette of drake.

Konstantin whispered, “That is fire drake.” We watched as the griffin tried to flee, but the drake was like an arrow and closed too fast. Glinting in the sun, the metallic red scales passed high above us as a small ball of flame belched from its mouth. It struck the panicked griffin in a flare of fire. The griffin and rider were both smoking and had flames trailing their burning bodies as they quickly fell from the skies.

The drake circled, looking for other prey, but the other two griffins had already retreated toward the city. The drake circled above our position, and Konstantin announced, “Let’s go join the others. I think the Duke’s army is close.”

The massive reptile landed near the lake, and a tall man dismounted and let the drake drink its fill while he walked toward our group. Castile stood to meet him. The drake rider wore black and red leathers and had a black cape with the markings of a mage.

Castile greeted him, “Master Mage Sebastian, thank you for your timely arrival.” Castile’s voice sounded relieved but cautious.

“The forces below are retreating, Mage Castile, but do not thank me yet. Duke Tiberius is still a day away, and Duke Octavian is with him,” Sebastian stated coldly. Castile jerked like she had been slapped, and I knew Duke Ocatavian had sent her to defend the city of Macha on this apparent suicide assignment.

“I am only here to hear what happened to my brother, Durandus.” His words were icy and angry. It did not feel like we were being saved.