Chương 8: 7. Pinned Down

Early morning sunlight shone onto the tops of the keep walls. Arrows flashed as they plunged through the sun's rays into the courtyard below. The ravaged Core Courtyard remained in shadow, lit by occasional flashes of flung elemental darts. The fifty-two living subjects of Tar Corinath sheltered in the shadows of the north wall, desperately trying to avoid the deadly rain of projectiles. A rhythmic 'THUD THUD THUD' vibrated through the Stone Gate on the south side of the courtyard.

The heavy wooden gate groaned, but held, bolstered as it was by the Influence of the Kingdom Core. Bracing that gate was nearly impossible; as it was visible to the enemy mages in the outer courtyard through the open Life Gate, and in range of the arrows arcing over the wall. If they couldn't get down the corridor to close the Life Gate, they had to find a way to return fire to the enemy. Bows, or slings, or something. They had the high ground, and needed to take advantage of it.

A man near Tavian groaned in pain, as his friends tried to bandage the gash in his side. He was bleeding, a lot. Tavian could do something about that. He pulled open his system interface and created a new Class. ⬣ New Class Created: [Fortify] ⬣ Class Tier Magic Constitution Strength [Fortify] I 0 1 0"Here," he said, moving over to the injured man. When he placed his hands on the man, the system identified him as Kamrin Torin. Tavian granted him the Class, boosting his constitution.

The man grunted, a bit of color returning to his face, and he seemed relieved.

"Anyone else injured?" Tavian asked, and the men pointed. Tavian worked his way through his kingdom, giving out the [Fortify] Class to all the casualties. In all, Tavian created twelve new [Fortify] Classes, hoping that his efforts would prolong the lives of the brave people fighting for him. Each Class he bestowed cost his Kingdom Core one Essence, though, reducing Influence. He couldn't keep this up. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 29 7 4.

14 The pounding on the gate continued; the sound of splintering wood was starting to join the incessant sound. Influence was the only thing holding that gate together; he needed to keep it high. Maybe it had been a bad idea to give out that many Classes to the injured. Tavian scanned the courtyard. He needed more Essence, but right now going out to the Core risked being pin cushioned by arrows or smashed by elemental projectiles. Calli leaned against the wall nearby, peering up at the sky.

"They're letting up," she said.

"They're not shooting darts as often. If we can move some material, a body, or one of those statues, I can use [Extract] to sift more Essence, and then—" Another volley of arrows rained down.

"It's too dangerous," Tavian said.

"We need range. We need archers, or slings, something to force them behind cover while we sift Essence and shore up the gate." Braun ran up. He was no longer bare chested, but was wearing a too-small tunic. He held a single long bow in one hand.

"I found this," he said.

"Who can shoot?"

"I can," a woman said, raising her hand. She was one of the big, brawny cook's assistants, from the far southern portion of the island. Tavian couldn't remember her name.

"I promise my shooting's better than my stews." She flashed a toothy grin as Braun handed her the bow.

"Thank you, Shona," Braun said. The woman darted out into the open and collected a handful of arrows, then charged up the steps to the battlements. Braun and Tavian watched her go.

"Nice tunic," Tavian said as Braun tugged on the tight garment.

"Nice boots," Braun said.

"One bow isn't going to be enough," Tavian said, rubbing his temples.

"I'm going to get a force together to go out to the armory. We need more weapons, and more men. We can't stay pinned down here, they'll gather their forces and break through."

"I can assemble a squad," Braun said, hopeful.

"It's dangerous."

"It's dangerous here too."

"Go, then." The pounding at the south gate stopped. Several beats of heavy silence passed, where only the shouts of the Anarvians in the courtyard beyond could be heard. Then the pounding returned, louder. Wood cracked and groaned. Erond sent a few men to brace the gate, along with a few men to shield them from arrows. It was a bad solution, but the only one they had.

"Arrows?" Shona called from atop the wall. Tavian collected an armful and ran for the stairs. The moment his foot landed on cold stone, he felt a shift. The arrows became heavier in his arms. Moving was more difficult. The problem with the large, hexagonal courtyard design was that smaller hexagons cannot perfectly tile a larger hexagon.

The seven claimed tiles of Tar Corinath were nearly inscribed in the courtyard hexagon—save for the gates, which were claimed—which meant that the six corners of the courtyard were on neutral territory. Tavian climbed the stairs and kept low as he crossed the wide space atop the wall toward the battlements. The central portion of the wall was in the Anarvian claimed tile, holding the passage that made up the Life Gate. A group of people, mostly pages and handmaidens, sheltered behind the battlements.

They waited beside the murder holes with piles of rocks for the next Anarvian attack. Shona had taken up a position in a neutral tile, at an arrow slit in one of the battlements, and was shooting down into the courtyard below. Tavian handed her the arrows he'd collected. Return fire clicked and skittered off the stone wall, and a poorly aimed [Projectile] rushed past. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"The mages are a bit too far back," Shona said, "But I'm making them run like ants!"

"Keep it up!" Tavian said, peering through a nearby arrow slit. The courtyard below was swarming with Anarvians. They were forming up, gathering strength for another attack. More of them were coming in through the gates of the fortress walls. A scream cut through the air below. A man at the earthwork was struck by an elemental missile. He flipped over backwards and struck the ground with a crunch. Tavian didn't think about it. He sprinted down the stairs. When he reached the injured man, he knelt beside him.

This man would die if he didn't help him. Tavian paid the one Essence price and assigned him [Fortify]. Crack. A massive beam in the Stone Gate splintered, and the men bracing it stumbled backwards. One fell to the ground, an arrow through his calf. Another was already dead.

"What is this?" Uncle Erond demanded, grabbing Tavian and pulling him to his feet.

"I made a new Class that adds one to constitution," Tavian said.

"I'm giving it to the wounded."

"Playing medic? You're plugging holes while the ship splits in two, boy," Erond said.

"You need to play to win! We need archers to disrupt their ranged attacks."

"I'm trying," Tavian snapped. Uncle Erond was right, but Tavian didn't have a better idea. All these people had trusted him, and had stayed with him rather than fleeing to safety. Had that been a mistake?

"I—" Erond interrupted him with a shout.

"Calli, what are you doing?" Tavian's stomach dropped. Calli had run into the middle of the open courtyard, and was examining a partially buried hunk of stone and metal. She was totally exposed to the next volley of arrows.

"Calli, get back here!" Tavian shouted. She tried to pick up the thing that she was examining, but it was too heavy for her. She only managed to roll it sideways.

"Help me lift it!" Calli screamed back at him. A distant line master shouted commands to archers. Tavian cursed. He grabbed a shield from a defender at the wall and ran out into the courtyard. Arrows flew overhead, and Tavian threw himself over Calli, raising his shield. A rain of arrows crashed into the gravel around them, some of them spraying splinters as they shattered. Arrows slammed into Tavian's shield. The impact rattled his arm and nearly knocked him to his knees.

"Why are these hitting so hard?" Tavian grunted.

"Projectiles inherit the Influence effects from where they're fired," Lea explained.

"Not where they land." The hail of arrows ended, and Tavian picked up the tangle of metal and chiseled stone, lifting with all his might. Calli helped him and together they hauled it to the relative safety of the north wall.

"What in Ishtoran's name is it?" he asked, staring at it.

"Why were you out there? Are you insane?" Tavian tried pulling an arrow out of the shield, but it was lodged deep. He snapped the shaft off instead. Calli crouched and levered the stone upright, so that the metal framework twisting around it pointed upwards. She unbent several portions of the twisted and charred metal frame, then wiped her brow.

"Recognize it now?" Tavian realized that he'd seen the shape before.

"Is that… Is that one of the old spell modules?" he asked.

"The projectile module?"

"Exactly!" Calli said proudly.

"But it's broken. It was damaged when the old Core exploded. I probably can't get the higher tiers working, but I should be able to get [Projectile I] active."

"You can? Do it! What do you need?" Calli pressed her hands on the module, her eyes squeezed shut, nose wrinkled.

"I might be able to do more, if I had it in the workshop. But hooking it up to the Core is going to leak Essence. A lot of it."

"How much?"

"I don't know," Calli said, laughing nervously.

"It'll cost some Essence just getting the module charged up. More will leak out during the process, depending on how damaged it is."

"How much?" Tavian asked again.

"Give me a range."

"Fifty to a hundred, most likely. It depends on how well I can fix it," Calli said.

"But honestly? There's a risk that it all leaks off. Drains the Core to nothing.

"All of it?" Tavian said.

"The kingdom will collapse." Tavian pressed his palm to his forehead. That much Essence… was about ten Influence per tile they controlled. It was doable, he thought, scanning the courtyard. They could add about a hundred Essence to the Core. But if things went bad, and all the Essence leaked? All their Influence gone? The Anarvian battering ram continued pounding on the Stone Gate. The wood was splintering. Without any Influence reinforcing it; the Anarvians were only moments from smashing through.

"Give me a few minutes to get this ready and I'll have a better answer for you," Calli said, bending over the module. Tavian got to work. First he grabbed a man wearing the mage robes of House Veros. He recognized him as the man Braun had dragged from the courtyard last night. The system told Tavian the man's name: Vanal Triff"Vanal," Tavian said, "You were one of my father's mages? You extracted Essence to feed the Core?"

"Yes, my lord," the mage said, seeming surprised that Tavian knew his name.

"I have a dangerous job for you. I need you to help me extract as much Essence as fast as possible. Can you get me one hundred or more as soon as possible? Grab some pages to help you carry things, time your movements between volleys. Get every scrap of cloth, chiseled piece of stone, and dead body you can find."

"I can try, my lord," Vanal said. Tavian assigned him to the [Extractor] Class.

"Go!" Tavian ordered. With a splintering of wood, a massive crack appeared in the Stone Gate. Soldiers tried to reinforce it. Arrows and darts peppered them as they worked there. Tavian watched the struggle, fists clenched. Calli was still hunched over the mangled spell module. Could she do it? She was barely an apprentice Coresmith. Was it wise to let her work with his Kingdom Core? But Calli and her damaged spell module might be his only option. Where had Master Coresmith Halin gotten to?

Tavian worked with Vanal, scrambling around the courtyard and hauling things to the Core between volleys of arrows. Erond and Braun continued coordinating the defenses; sending men to brace the Stone Gate, and other men to shield them from arrows. Piles of sticks and stones were almost worthless, yielding one or two Essence at most, when they yielded anything at all. Dead Anarvians were good, but those were gone. Given a chance, Tavian would gladly make more than them.

After a desperate quarter of an hour, Tavian and Vanal managed to increase Core Essence all the way up to fifty. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 50 7 7. 14 The additional Influence helped to stabilize the Stone Gate, though the Anarvians continued pounding on it. Tavian found another mangled spell module, partially buried in rubble. He couldn't identify which one it had been. It would probably yield significant Essence.

Calli was still fiddling with the sculpture that had once been a [Projectile] module.

"Hey, Calli! Can I use this for extraction?" She ran over to him and inspected the mangled module quickly.

"Sure. It's totally dead. When they crack like this, it—""Lessons later," Tavan said.

"Can you fix the other one?"

"Just one more minute!" Tavian hauled the busted module to the Kingdom Core. He dove to his chest as a wave of elemental darts targeted him, then he sifted the module. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 66 7 9. 4 Sixteen Essence wasn't bad. It was the most he'd collected in a single extraction before. And there might be more damaged modules around somewhere. Vanal ripped a decorative shrub from the ground and dragged it over to the Core.

They only provided a single Essence when sifted, but every little bit counted.

"Look out!" someone yelled as Vanal sifted the shrub. A wave of magic darts rushed past as Vanal hit the ground, Essence evaporating from his hands before he could press it into the Core.

"Vanal!" Tavian yelled.

"Look for the old spell modules, we'll use those!" They continued working. The Anarvians must have realized what they were doing, because the elemental darts started targeting Tavian and Vanal.

"I found one!" Vanal called. A mangled mess of stone and metal was wedged beneath a toppled statue. Tavian ran and helped the man extract what had once been a spell module. It came apart in three pieces; totally destroyed. Vanal hauled it over to the Core, crawling behind a line of rubble to avoid attacks from the Anarvian mages. He sifted the chunks and pressed the Essence into the Core. ⬣ Kingdom Status ⬣ Core Essence Tiles Claimed Influence 71 7 10. 14"How much longer, Calli?" Tavian yelled.

"I'm ready," she said, uncertainly, rising to her feet.

"But it's probably going to cost us a hundred Essence."

"Can you do it for less?" Tavian demanded.

"I can try," Calli said.