The Siege

Ready and steady

Julius leapt over the last few steps of the staircase leading to the main hall of the barracks and landed in the middle of the hive of men buzzing with activity. Some soldiers were still dressing up, squeezing into their mostly chain armour and pulling up heavy plated boots. Others, already fully dressed gathered around the armoury shelves and racks situated on the opposite side of the large hall to collect their swords, spears and shields. The Captain’s eyes almost immediately noticed Sergeant Hunor in the middle of the room. The man in his fifties, barefooted and still without trousers, was shouting orders, cursing with every second word.

“Move your arses, you lazy shits!” he yelled at the men collecting weapons. “Goblins won’t wait till you get ready and fluff your feathers up, lads! They prefer to gut softies and naked like those slow imbeciles over there!” he was pointing at the handfull of soldiers struggling to put their armour on.

“Sergeant!” Julius shouted to Hunor as he approached, closely followed by the Lieutenant and his two guards.

“Sir!” Hunor replied, instantly straightening up and added, “Glad you finally decided to join us, Captain!”

Lieutenant Jonas threw a discerning glance at Hunor and asked in heightened voice, “What is the meaning of this, Sergeant. Why are you not dressed up appropriately?”

Hunor growled, staring back at the Lieutenant and replied in a mocking tone, “Because getting my men battle-ready is a priority, Lieutenant.” The Sergeant had little to no respect for the young and cocky Lieutenant. Unlike himself, coming from a poor background and growing through the military ranks through sweat and blood, Jonas was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and became a Lieutenant because of his rich and influential background. But the main reason for Hunor’s resentment was of how the overprivileged and inexperienced Lieutenant treated his soldiers. His pompousness, arrogance and disrespect towards fellow brothers in arms was a well-known fact, and soldiers hated the privileged bastard all the same. The mutual hostility between the two men was public knowledge.

“Enough with the bickering,” Julius said abruptly, stopping the brewing argument. He had no time nor desire to listen to their quarrel and asked his Sergeant instead, “What’s the situation, Hunor?”

The old Sergeant mumbled something inexplicable and replied, “As I am sure our Lieutenant here already instructed you, some goblin scum paid us a visit.” Hunor threw another angry gaze at Jonas and continued, “They are trying to open the gates but from what I gather their little shit brains can’t figure out how to operate the locking mechanisms and their little knives won’t be enough to cut through the heavy doors.” He took a deep breath before finishing, “Meanwhile their archers are keeping us pinned down.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Julius replied, looking around as he listened to a hasty report. “Where is my Master of crossbowmen?” he then asked, searching the room for the man in question.

“Dead on the street,” replied Hunor, pointing through the open doors of the entrance where a handful of dead soldiers lay on the pavement. “The old prick was stupid enough to run out with his pants down. Those bloody goblins made short work of him and the few that followed.”

“Talking of pants down,” mumbled Jonas, throwing another judging glance at the Sergeant's appearance.

Hunor opened his mouth to reply with something undoubtedly nasty, but the Captain waved his hand, stopping the Sergeant in his tracks and said, “Get your pants on, Hunor, will you?”

“Yes, sir!” the Sergeant barked in response, straightened up, turned around and quickly marched away to his quarters to dress up, cursing and shouting at the soldiers as he passed by.

Looking victorious Jonas waited for Hunor to distance himself, before opening his mouth, “I am sorry to point it out, sir, but…..”

“Drop it, Lieutenant,” Julius said, with a slight hint of growing annoyance in his voice. He disliked the Lieutenant probably even more than Hunor did, but as the Captain of the Guard, he had to put with many things, not to his liking. Jonas was the governor’s favourite nephew, and his uncle was very keen to fast-track his nephew’s military career. But the spoiled little brat had still lots to learn, and the Captain wasn’t giving him any preferential treatment. Julius kept quiet for a moment, observing the surrounding activity and added as he started to walk towards the entrance, “Get your men ready, Lieutenant. You will accompany me in leading the charge on the gates.”

With a prospect of charging into the enemy, the chubby Lieutenant’s face changed colour from a pink rose to pale grey in a split second. “Captain?” he asked, rushing after Julius, failing to hide the tension in his voice. “Are you sure about that? That’s very dangerous. Could I suggest sending for reinforcements first? I am sure my uncle will immediately send the reserve.”

“You think so, Lieutenant?” Julius asked in return, pushing through the gathering of men standing in his way.

“We don’t know how many of them are there, and their archers will slaughter us before we reach the gates. It looks like they can’t open them anyway, so we should take precautions.” Jonas kept persuading, almost stepping on his commander's heels.

Julius hesitated with a response for a few seconds as he approached the wide-open doors where armed soldiers were piling up by the entrance, staying inside and away from goblin arrows periodically zapping by on the street.

Listening to the warning bells ringing in the distance, Julius finally replied to his anxious Lieutenant, “Looks like your uncle is already aware of the assault. I am sure he will send us reinforcements.”

“I am sure of it, sir, but if I go to him personally, he might do it much faster.” Jonas was adamant.

Julius looked at his Lieutenant, thinking for a brief moment and finally said, “You know, Lieutenant, that is a great idea. After all, he is your uncle, and I am confident he won’t refuse your request.”

“Oh, sir, I am most certainly positive he won’t”, Jonas responded with great relief in his voice, adding, “I shall depart immediately!” He then turned around and distanced himself without waiting for the Captain’s approval. “Out of my way, you scum!” he pushed and shoved soldiers to the side, rushing towards the stables linked with the barracks through the inned doors.

Julius grinned watching his Lieutenant disappear behind the crowd, before mumbling to himself, “You do that, son. And take your time.” With the troublemaker gone, he had one worry less. The Lieutenant was reckless and would have put his men into unnecessary danger, and the Captain had no time for babysitting right now.

"They are setting fire to the gates!” someone shouted by the entrance as Julius finally reached the doors, elbowing his way through the gathering.

“Step aside, men!” he ordered, and the soldiers immediately gave him space and noded as
their commander stepped forward. Men respected their Captain for being fare and treating them well.

The fresh air of the evening greeted him with a pleasant coolness. The Captain always preferred to evaluate the situation in person, and today wouldn't be an exception. He observed as soldiers, armed with crossbows were lining up behind the cover of heavy and thick oak wood doors, safe from the goblin arrows. They were stepping outside one or two at a time, firing their heavy crossbows and rushing back into safety. Julius also noticed a handful of soldiers ducked behind the warehouse doors on the opposite side of the street. The two dead guards in front of the warehouse deterred others from attempting to run across.

One of the crossbowmen stepped out from the cover and aimed his crossbow one moment too long. Before he could fire the projectile, an arrow slammed into his chest, sending the soldier tumbling down to the pavement. He screamed in pain and tried to get up, but another arrowhead bore into his left leg, forcing him to fall again. “Ah, you damned bastards!” the wounded man started to curse, squirming in anguish.

“Hold on!” another young soldier, standing by the edge of the door yelled, grabbed the shield leaning against the wall, raised it and stepped outside towards the wounded man. Almost instantly, arrows began to pepper him, pinging off the shield’s surface. The young man grabbed the wounded crossbowman by the shoulder, pulled him up and walked back into the safety of the doors. Both were greeted by the cheers of the men, jumping in to help their injured brother in arms. Yells and screeches from the direction of the gates suggested that goblins weren’t very happy with the outcome of this endeavour.

Without saying a word, the young man swiftly picked up the loaded crossbow, leaned out and fired the projectile, before hiding behind the cover.

“Get this man help!” ordered the Captain and the men brought the wounded moaning soldier inside the building. He then turned to the young recruit, who was already reloading his crossbow and asked, “What’s your name, son?”

“Kajus, sir. Kajus Grigas.” the young recruit replied, continuing to attend to his weapon.

“Can you tell me what’s the situation out there?” Julius asked him, peeking outside through the gap between the door hinges.

“Goblins pulled the cart in front of the gatehouse to block our shots. They have also just set fire to the gates, so we have ten, maybe fifteen minutes before they burn down.” Kajus replied, leaned out and fired his crossbow again, getting back behind cover just in time to avoid two arrows zapping inches from his head. He exhaled and added, looking at the Captain, “And their archers are keeping us busy.”

“I see that,“ Julius nodded, evaluating both the situation and the young man in front of him and finally asked, “What would you propose, son?”

“Me?” Kajus asked in return, surprised by the unusual question.

“Well, hurry up.” Julius was adamant and added, “We don’t have all day.”

“Well, sir, we have to clear the gates but must get rid of their archers first; otherwise, we will lose a lot of men.”

“I am back, sir!” Hunor’s voice echoed behind the crowd, and the Sergeant fully dressed and armed pushed through the gathering of men, swearing and shouting as he went, “Step aside you lazy shit sticks. Let me through!” He finally reached the entrance with the question, “What the hell is going on here?”

Julius, ignoring Hunor’s question kept his eyes on Kajus, examining the young man in front of him and after a brief pause said, “I agree, son. As of now, you are my new master of crossbowmen.”

Kajus stared back at him in disbelief before asking, “Why me?”

The Captain tapped Kajus on the shoulder, answering, “Since the previous one is dead over there…” Julius pointed at one of the dead soldiers a few meters away, “and you know how to handle the weapon and you care for your fellow brothers.”

Kajus looked at the dead Master of crossbows, then back at Julius, and after a brief pause indicating careful thinking, quietly nodded in agreement.

“Em, what did I miss?” Hunor asked, sounding as much surprised as Kajus did.

“We will leave formalities for later, Sergeant,” Julius replied and turned to Hunor. “Right now let’s discuss our plan of action. I suggest the following…...” Three men shortly talked over the Captain’s proposal, finally nodding in agreement, before Kajus called half of the crossbowmen, gathered by the entrance and quickly marched towards the staircase leading upstairs to the Captain’s quarters. Ten men carrying heavy crossbows followed him through the crowd of armed soldiers.

“Are you sure about this lad, Captain?” Hunor asked after Kajus, and his crossbowmen disappeared from view.

“Will soon find out, Hunor,” the Captain replied with a smile and added, “Instruct the men if you please.”

“With pleasure, sir,” the Sergeant acknowledged and turned to the soldiers gathered behind. “All right, you dimwits! Listen carefully and memorise this into your half-empty brainless skulls!” He took a deep breath before continuing, “When I give a signal, half of you, “ he stepped forward drawing the invisible line separating men into two groups, “will follow me and half will go with the Captain. Our job is to slaughter every single one of the goblin scum on that gatehouse.” He then turned to the rest of the crossbowmen, instructing them, “Meanwhile you bunch of lazy pricks will have to provide us with some cover from their archers, so be sure to aim well and shoot to kill, got it?”

The men murmured and nodded in acknowledgement. Satisfied with their reaction, Hunor turned to the group assigned to follow the Captain and said, emphasising every single word,” And you lads, make sure that nothing happens to our Captain here; otherwise I will hang each and one of you by the balls and so help me god!”

“Yes, sir!” soldiers shouted in response with enthusiasm and eagerness.

“That’s my boys,” Hunor murmured to himself, unsheathed his sword and nodded to the Captain. The battle for the Western Gate was about to begin.

To be continued