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The gun. "It probably won't work here," I warned, but I drew the pistol and flicked off the safety. It was as good a time as any to find out for sure. I set my bow aside and took a two-handed grip on the pistol. I aimed and pulled the trigger, expecting nothing.
Bang. "I'll be damned," I muttered. But I hadn't hit anyone. I took more care the next time and saw one archer tumble from the siege tower into the men who were pushing it. The next shot wounded another archer in the arm, putting him out of action. Then a click. I worked the slide to eject that cartridge and tried again. Another click. I pulled the trigger again, then cocked the gun by hand and pulled the trigger once more. No luck.
"Well, it was a good idea while it lasted." I holstered the gun and picked up my bow again.
I glanced north. The fog was definitely closer. South: so was the tower. Lesh and the other soldiers with us had started testing their strength with spears. There were bundles of wooden lances with fire-hardened tips. With a little oomph behind them, they could pierce padded leather and take the air out of a man in mail… as I knew from experience. They also gave us a few more chances to try firing the siege tower. Those spears could support more fire than the arrows. Not enough to make a difference, but it did slow the attackers again.
"We've got ten, maybe fifteen minutes before they get that tower in place," I said, loud enough so that most of the people on the battlements could hear. "I'm going down to see how Parthet's doing. I'll be back."
I've never gone in for jogging, but that wasn't the time for a casual stroll. Parthet was awake, but flat on his back and not moving much. I didn't expect him to be up dancing jigs. I recalled how I felt after my first set-to with the elflord, and that had lasted only minutes, not days.
"What's it like out there?" Mother asked calmly.
"They've got a siege tower almost in place, with the men to use it. On the other side, we've got the heaviest fog you ever saw racing in off the Mist. And the men I brought from Basil are starting to fall asleep."
"How did you free me from the elflord?" Parthet asked weakly.
"I broke in on your co
"I did. At least, I think it got through. Then, when people started dropping off to sleep here I had to try something to help." Parthet was quiet for a moment, gathering strength. "You were overdue and there was no one else to turn to."
"You wouldn't by chance have a quick spell for overturning a siege tower, would you?" I asked.
"Not a quick one, and I'm too weak to use the slow one I do have."
"Can I use it?"
"No, lad, not even if I had time to teach you the words."
"Mother, if I open the way, can you get Parthet through to Basil?" She nodded. "Okay, let's go. We don't have much time. If there are any men left to send to help us, get them here fast or it'll be too late." I picked Parthet up and carried him. He wasn't very heavy, but heavy enough to put a noticeable strain on my back and ribs. I gritted my teeth and followed Mother out of the room. After I got them both transferred to Basil, I raced back to the outer wall.
The siege tower was within a dozen feet of the moat, but it wasn't moving very quickly at all now. There were no pullers left, just pushers. The odds were too heavy in front of the rig. The fog had arrived, though. It already hid the northern wall of Arrowroot.
"That can't be natural," I said as I started using my bow again. A
I heard muffled shouting below-command tones.
Here they come, I thought. I put down my bow and drew the elf sword, moving toward the spot where the siege tower's drawbridge would come down. We waited in the isolation of that fog, listening to an occasional muffled noise coming from beyond the wall. I could feel my back starting to ache again, so I grabbed a quick sip of the painkiller.
Wood creaked finally, but there was no thump of the drawbridge coming down, no sudden surge of my danger sense.
"What's keeping them?" A
"Something's happened," I said, an understated expression of the surprise I felt as the feeling of danger started to wane for the first time since our arrival in Arrowroot. I took a moment to try to probe with the sense-and I wasn't even sure that I could use it that way.
"I think they're pulling back," I said after a moment.
I heard a loud yawn inside the castle, then a thick "What the hell's happening? Where'd this blasted fog come from? Where am I?" One of the garrison soldiers, fresh from his long nap. Lesh answered him, and, also inside the castle, somebody started blowing a horn.
"That's the alarm!" a new voice shouted.
"Where's the trouble?" another asked.
"Settle down," I said, not quite in a shout. "We'll know what's going on soon enough. Watch for the siege tower outside the wall."
That brought another assortment of comments from garrison soldiers. There were ru
"Somebody bring Baron Resler here," I shouted. "This is Gil Tyner." I didn't add titles, but I heard a distant-sounding voice say, "The Hero of Varay."
"They're all waking up," A
"I couldn't scare Xayber off with the 82nd Airborne behind me," I said. Let her puzzle over that for a while, I thought with a chuckle.
"The fog's passing," someone said from the north side of the keep. Other voices took up the refrain and got clearer. A few minutes later, the tail end of the fog crossed the parapet where we were waiting. It was another perfectly straight line, fog on one side, clear air on the other. The fog moved across the moat, toward the town, picking up speed once it was clear of the castle. The siege tower was standing right at the edge of the moat, but there were no enemy troops in sight… except for about a dozen bodies left sprawled in the plaza.
The tower and the bodies were surprises to the soldiers who had been sleeping. "Where the hell did that come from?" was a popular question.
The fog bent toward the east like an echelon movement in a parade. There were no live soldiers in the plaza, no elf warriors waving claymores, no trace of any enemy but the dead.
"They used the fog to pull out," Harkane said.
"They've run off!" one of the Basiliers added.
A
"Great Earth Mother!" she swore. "You've beaten the elflord again."