The Lost Kestrel Found by Peter Wacht

Author:Peter Wacht [Wacht, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kestrel Media Group LLC
Published: 2020-08-19T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Confident Start

“Oclan, keep those men in line!” screamed Killeran. “I don’t care if the Ogren make them nervous. They need to be ready.”

“Yes, Lord Killeran,” replied Oclan, the one-eyed reiver trotting off to do his best to keep his men calm and focused, or at least less anxious and agitated.

He could understand their hesitation, what with them being forced to stand so close to Ogren and Shades. The dark creatures made him nervous as well, the massive beasts towering over his reivers. Too often in the past these unwanted allies had made the mistake of attacking his men rather than the Highlanders. Yet that wasn’t the worst of it. Every so often a Shade felt the need to feed, selecting the closest target. Several unfortunate reivers had met an untimely end in such a way, sucked dry by a Shade in search of sustenance. In the eyes of the dark creatures, Oclan assumed that he and his men appeared to be no more than an easy meal, a thought that kept the reiver captain continually on edge.

Killeran ignored the uneasiness in his ranks, sitting atop his horse, watching the warlocks continue their assault on the gates. The flames licked at the wood, catching along the edges, despite the Highlanders’ frantic attempts to douse the fire with water. Perhaps their efforts would be rewarded if they struggled against natural fire. But not with the flames created by Dark Magic, which burned so long as the warlock maintained control of the corrupted energy. It was only a matter of time before his reivers would have an open path into the village.

But how long would it take? He shook his head in exasperation. He only had a handful of warlocks remaining with him now, compared to his attack on the Crag. Then, he had had several hundred warlocks, and working together they had blown huge holes through the stone walls of the fortress. But now, these dark creatures couldn’t bring such power to bear. Thus, the much slower approach they took in order to break through the village’s primary defense. Even combining their strength, these servants of the Shadow Lord didn’t have the power to blow apart the village’s gates as he had demanded when they had arrived on the plateau.

He struggled to control his irritation. Soon the gates would become a burning husk and he could implement the next part in his strategy.

Killeran smiled at the thought, his rat-like face twisted in glee. The first step in his plan to retake the Highlands was progressing exactly as he’d expected. Even though he had lost a large number of his warlocks during the destruction of his Highland fort, infamously named the Black Hole, and many of the remaining warlocks to the Marchers’ ambushes, he no longer worried that this handful now working before him were all that he had left. The Ogren and Shades Lord Chertney had given him more than made up for his loss of those foolish souls skilled in the application of Dark Magic.

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