A Disagreement at the Gate

Keme went down the stairs first. I followed him with Waki behind me and several warriors above us watching the wall. A scout crouched at the far end of the alley. He spoke to Keme, pointed left, then held up three fingers. Keme answered with two. The scout looked dissatisfied but took two warriors with him and disappeared around the corner.

The rest of us waited until a short call came, then we moved. We followed a narrow lane behind a few houses. Keme stopped us at every crossing while scouts went ahead. Once, a patrol passed close enough that I heard a man complain about his supper. We weren't here to kill every soldier we found. We needed the gate open before the soldiers found each other.

Saren touched my shoulder and pointed toward a low roof. Two warriors climbed onto it. The eastern gate stood at the end of the next street. Two Paladins guarded it while four men dragged a heavy timber log into brackets behind the doors. A Cleric waited under a covered gatehouse checkpoint next to the gate. Two Zealots stood on the wall above him.

Keme drew back into the alley and spoke quietly. Waki translated near my ear. “The ones above take the crossbows. We take the shields. You stay behind him.”

Keme looked toward the roof. An elf raised one hand and Keme signaled us to take another step back. A door opened beside the gatehouse. A man in white plate stepped out carrying a short, broad-headed hammer. A sunburst covered his breastplate. He stopped beside the Cleric, looked toward our lane, and tilted his head.

“Templar,” I whispered.

Waki glanced at me. “Problem?”

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

“I've never fought one.”

That apparently wasn't the answer she wanted.

Keme raised his hand and an arrow struck one of the Zealots in the throat. The second Zealot ducked behind the rampart as another shaft scraped stone. Keme ran and we all followed. The four men at the gate abandoned the timber and reached for their weapons.

The Paladins had reacted quickly. One blocked the stairs to the wall while the other used his Aegis to form a barrier in front of them. Keme struck the shield and arrows hit from above. The Templar stepped forward, out from the Aegis.

He lifted his hammer and white light collected around its head. I had heard enough stories to dislike that. “Back!”

The hammer struck the street. A white ring snapped outward along the stones. In front of him, the warriors nearest stopped moving and fell as if they were pulled to the ground. The ring faded a few paces from the hammer. Waki stumbled at its edge, teeth clenched, and caught herself against a wall.

The Paladin behind him thrust his sword toward one of the stunned warriors. I summoned the flamberge and hit the blade sideways. An orange spear of light met the Aegis and shattered it. Keme moved before the Paladin could recover and drove his shield into the man's face.

The Templar lifted his hammer for another strike. “Don't stay close!” I shouted. “Wait for him to—” Keme rushed forward. The hammer started glowing.

Keme immediately jumped back as white light snapped across empty stones. He shouted something to the others. Waki translated as she dragged one of the fallen warriors backward. “He understood.”

Something scraped above us. The surviving Zealot had finished bringing his arbalest around. White light gathered along its arms. He pulled the release. I expected one bolt erupting in flame upon impact. Five thin lances of holy light spread across the street instead. I preferred rumors when they remained rumors.

Keme's shield caught two. One struck an elf in the shoulder. Another passed through a wooden shutter. The last shaved a piece of stone from the wall beside my head.

The Zealot bent over the winding handle. I pointed upward. Saren followed my hand, then drew his bow. He waited until the Zealot straightened to see where we had gone. The arrow struck beneath the man's chin. The arbalest tipped over the rampart and hit the street with a satisfying thud.

The Templar tried to advance but the elves didn’t let him. One appeared from an alley to his right. The hammer flashed and the elf disappeared before it struck. Another came from behind him. He turned. That one disappeared too. The Templar stopped looking for someone to hit and started looking for where the next one would come from.

The next elf appeared behind him. This time the Templar didn't swing. White light remained gathered around the hammer as he turned and continued toward us. We could make him waste the blessing. We couldn't make him use it.

Waki picked up a broken piece of the shutter and threw it at his face. He knocked it aside with his hammer. Her knife struck beneath his shoulder. He caught her wrist before she could pull away. The Cleric raised his mace. Light spread across the Templar's armor and the blood running down his side slowed.

Waki twisted, but the Templar still had her. The hammer began to rise.

“Waki!”

White light struck the stones and she dropped. The ring caught two other elves with her. Keme started toward them, but one Paladin shifted his Aegis to guard the Cleric.

I could break the Aegis again, but I had no idea how much power I had left. Waki wasn't moving so that simplified the decision. I raised the flamberge and orange light struck the Aegis. Keme was through it before I lowered the blade.

The Paladin turned toward Keme. Keme went around the edge of the shield and drove his ax into him. A southern warrior dropped from the rooftop onto the Cleric. The light went out, and the Templar dropped onto the stones with the same injuries he had been trying to ignore. Waki pushed herself upright beside him.

A bell started ringing from somewhere toward the center of town. Harrowford had unfortunately started noticing us.

That left one Paladin, four soldiers and very little time. I rose the flamberge and the Paladin tried to turn his shield toward me. Keme's ax arrived from the other direction and the fight ended abruptly after that.

Two of the men dropped their swords. One ran up the stairs but Saren caught him before he reached the top. Waki knelt over the Templar and checked him before retrieving her knife.

Keme signaled for help at the gate. Four warriors lifted the timber and it opened with a long scrape of wood against stone.

For a moment, there was only darkness beyond it. Then Nimiwa appeared with Aponi beside her, and the forest began sending people into Harrowford.

Nimi looked at the wounded elf and the bodies on the ground. Her eyes moved to my face. “You hurt?”

I shook my head. She looked me over anyway, then went to the man with the hole in his shoulder. I was still watching her when white light rose above the church.

One flare. A second. Then a third, hanging together over the tallest tower.

Keme turned toward me. We had opened the gate. Someone else had invited company.