Prologue~Ch. 1~Ch. 2~Ch. 3~Ch. 4~Ch. 5~Ch. 6~Ch. 7~Ch. 8~Ch. 9~Ch. 10~
Ch. 11~Ch. 12~Ch. 13~Ch. 14~Ch. 15~Ch. 16~Ch. 17~Ch. 18~Ch. 19~Ch. 20
Ch. 21~Ch. 22~Ch. 23~Ch. 24~~Ch. 25~
“So guys,” Jessica said while she was having the noon-day meal with Gareth and Alexandre. What was it they called it, luncheon? Nuncheon? Ewan was off doing whatever it was that princes did during the day; she usually only saw him in the evenings. “Tell me about this monster army that chased everybody out of the castle.”
Gareth choked on the drink he was taking. Alexandre merely raised an eyebrow. “What would you like to know?”
“Well, for starters, how come everyone’s camped out in this valley instead of in the castle? I mean, when you saw the monster army coming, why didn’t you just batten down the hatches and hold them off from inside the castle? Isn’t that how a siege works?
“An interesting question,” Alexandre said. “I, myself, was not present when the attack occurred. I arrived after the fact. Gareth?”
Gareth swallowed hard. “’Twas ghosts that drove us forth. Fearsome ghosts. At first ‘twas only the nobles being haunted – specters and nightmares being visited upon them in the dark of night. Little sleep was being had and tempers grew ever short. Then the phantoms began to appear after the sun had arisen. We knew not from whence they came. So fearsome were they we fled, with barely what we could carry, ‘til we arrived hither.”
“So the wizard conjured up an army of ghosts to drive everyone out of the castle, and now he keeps you out with his army of monsters,” Jessica said thoughtfully. “What does he want?”
“Your pardon?”
“Has he made any demands? Sent a representative to negotiate for anything?”
“I . . . nay, he hast done none of these things.”
“So he’s just sitting there, all by himself in the castle while his monsters keep everyone else out,” Jessica said thoughtfully. There was something fishy about this whole set-up. She couldn’t understand why no one seemed to see it except her.
They finished their meal in silence, and when they were done Jessica pulled on her boots and strapped on her sword.
“Okay guys, let’s go.”
Gareth and Alexandre exchanged confused glances. “Go where?” Alexandre asked cautiously.
“To the battlefield of course. I want to see this monster army for myself.”
“Nay!” Gareth exclaimed. “’Tis madness!”
“If I’m to help you,” Jessica explained patiently, “I’ll need to see what I’m up against.”
“There are places from which to see battleground without putting yourself at too much risk,” Alexandre admitted. “It should be safe enough.”
“The prince wilt be most displeased.”
“Then we just won’t tell him,” Jessica said sweetly.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
“I don’t see anything unusual,” Jessica said, glancing around.
They were concealed in a copse on a hill overlooking the so-called battlefield. The field was rutted and churned up in places, but other than that it looked pretty harmless. It certainly didn’t look as though terrible battles had been taking place on it.
In the distance the castle stood on a rise, squat and formidable looking. Jessica was delighted to see the moat surrounding it – what was a castle without a moat? There was a flag waving from the tallest tower, but it was too far away to make out the crest on the flag.
“The monsters be there,” Gareth said in a whisper. “They just be hidden.”
A horn sounded to the left of them.
“What’s that?” Jessica asked.
“It’s the call to battle,” Alexandre told her. “It looks like we’re in for a skirmish.”
They watched as a small detachment from the army formed a double line along the edge of the field. Ewan, Jessica could tell it was him from the way he carried himself and from the green and silver he wore, rode a magnificent white horse up and down the line offering last minute instructions and encouragement. There was no movement from the field until the horn sounded once more and Ewan led the charge.
From out of nowhere, the monsters appeared. Jessica stared open-mouthed at the sheer size and variety of them. Some had fur, most had scales, and a very few had both. Their teeth went from large and dripping with venom to huge and terrifying. A few had wings and had risen in the air to make strafing runs on the incoming soldiers.
Ewan’s army was not doing so well. They were clawed and bitten and overwhelmed by sheer numbers, while they managed to do very little damage to the monsters. In fact, it appeared as though they weren’t even leaving a mark on the monsters.
The horn sounded again and this time it was a call to retreat. Ewan’s soldiers left the battlefield and made their way slowly back to camp, taking their wounded with them. As the last soldier left the battlefield, the monsters went back to wherever it was they came from.
“I beseech you,” Gareth begged. “Canst we not return to the camp?”
Jessica nodded. “I think I’ve seen everything I need to see here,” she said.
She’d seen enough, and more. In fact, she’d seen right through the monsters. Ewan’s men were fighting an army of illusions.
1 comments:
Just discovered the little change in the name: Alexandre. You did it! How cool is that!!!
Ewan’s men were fighting an army of illusions.
You are really always good for surprises! ... Just one question: How could have injured people, when those monsters are just illusion?
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