A new day dawned with a thin line of orange-yellow nestled along the irregular cloud line on the horizon. As the sun slowly rose and the sky brightened, she stretched her fingers across the sky painting her vast canvas with color. The clouds further up in the heavens still showed their nightly blue-grey color, making a sharp contrast with the vibrant shades of yellows, oranges, and golds the sun had in mind for her morning wakening. There were still a few night cloud wisps dotting the vibrant color display not yet capturing the dawn’s colorings as their own. The early morning mists still lingered among the grass and water. The birds were chirping their wake up calls to any who cared to listen. The lambs were frolicking in the meadows. The Castle Angels were getting up and out to do their chores – the men tending the livestock, the women preparing breakfast, and the children gathering the eggs. It was looking to be a glorious day for the Angels and the gods were looking down on them!
The peaceful early morning calm was suddenly broken.
BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!
The sound of the distant toll of church bells was ominous in the early morning stillness. The sound continued to resonate long after the last bell peeled. The once cheerful birds stopped calling. The cicadas ceased their incessant droning that accompanied the warmth of the new day. The world and her inhabitants stopped what they were doing in the wake of the bells’ echo. The Angels, too, stopped their chores. It had been a very long time since they heard the deep tones of the summoning bells. They were more accustomed to the lighter chimes used for welcoming the Angels to church and festivities. Everyone knew that four solemn rings meant something important – potentially life-threatening. The men left their homes to gather at the Keep to hear the proclamation while the women started packing the essentials and organizing the children and livestock. It was always known that four tolls of the deepest bells meant a battle was eminent and that the Angels were to find shelter inside the mountains. This event was so seldom needed that all the Angels – man, woman, and child - became very uneasy in their anticipation.
By the time the men began gathering, Carl had four groups of men organized and working on inspecting the pits. Because the wooden planking was heavy and had to be moved, he had divided his groups into four teams. He hand-picked the crew chiefs from his most trusted men or those who had a working knowledge of the pits - Fëanáro, Elladan, and Bernardo. He then let the chiefs decide who they wanted to work on their teams to get the job done as quickly as possible. Carl had ridden to each of the leaders before dawn broke and the bells rang since time was so important. He needed to get the quantity of replacement spikes to Caro as quickly as possible. He hoped that there would be little need for repairs so they could focus on getting the women and children to safety and prepare for battle. Tuls told the Council members that he would have a few of his trusted warriors help with the families and livestock. He promised to have his people inspect the caves and make sure the provisions were all in place. Finn and his people were helping with gathering the tar for the burning catapults in case they should be needed. They were also preparing extra arrows and stockpiling them along the parapets.
Fëanáro Sáralondë was probably one of the older warriors as he had been around before Carl came to live with the Angels. Fëanáro was a widower having lost his wife, Maranwë, in the Dragon Wars. She had been one of the premier female Dragon Riders of the time. After her death and when he was in a melancholy mood, he wondered what his life would have been like had she lived. She was an artist with exceptional talent who had a heart of gold for the Angels and their children. She never blessed their marriage with children. So he did not have a little girl with her eyes or a son with her smile to remind him of her now that he was alone. He was both teacher and clergy for the village. While he was a tall man reaching close to 7 feet, he was also muscular and very fit for his size. Fëanáro was capable of taking several wayward children under each arm to separate them from fighting or rescue them from danger. He had salt-and-pepper hair, clear gray eyes surrounded by laugh lines, a commanding yet soft voice, and an infectious grin. His sense of humor was always at the ready and he enjoyed playing word games with his students and friends. Fëanáro was an understanding and wise man which made a great combination for teaching children and giving spiritual guidance for those in need. He was slow to find fault and rarely had a temper. However, when he felt strongly about something, he would not back down from any confrontation; that included standing up for anyone he felt had been falsely or unfairly accused or when the Angels were being threatened. Today, he was needed for his strength and wisdom in the face of adversity.
Elladan of Dorthonion was a newcomer to the Castle Angels compared to most of the other inhabitants of Aragorn. He and his troop of traveling minstrel players – Melilot Hamwich and her husband Hob, their daughter Iris and son Ponto – had come for an early spring festival and decided to stay and make their home with the Angels. All five were warmly welcomed additions to the community. Carl felt that they had always been a part of the village, they fit in so well. The group set down roots quickly and Elladan had already proved himself a leader. Carl recognized Elladan’s skills and wanted to utilize all that he could. Elladan and Hob had already taught the warriors a few battle techniques that would probably come into play for this siege.
Bernardo Carvalho was a younger man compared to most of the other more seasoned warriors. He had a tall, slight frame with dark brown hair and green eyes that lit up when he smiled. He had a kind face and an engaging way with others. All the maidens tried to outdo the other to gain his attention and win his heart. However, Carl saw a fierce warrior’s heart in the man. Bernardo’s skill with a sword was uncanny with his meticulous precision. There was no wasted effort when he battled. Each strike of his sword met its mark swiftly and accurately. Bernardo was quickly earning a name for himself as a deadly warrior.
All of the teams worked hard over the early morning hours removing just enough of the planking to ascertain which needed improvements and then replacing it so the Angels wouldn’t accidentally fall into the pits on their migration to the mountain. Once Caro and Cat prepared the replacements spikes, they would have to come back out with the horse-drawn wagons to remove the covers, arrange the spikes as needed, and cover the pits with a burlap camouflage. The idea was that once the armies got between the two castle walls and advanced on the walls of the Keep, the pits would claim lives. It was always a gruesome task to clean them after a battle. However, the Angels had been lucky that the pits had not been used often over the years. They also had funeral fires for all the dead for whom Fëanáro conducted last rites. This was not the usual practice given to the fallen enemies by other towns. But the Castle Angels were not like others. They were unique.
The reports were given to Carl. It seemed that out of the twenty-four pits, only seven spikes needed to be replaced. That was far fewer than Carl anticipated. He delivered the quantity to Caro who felt that she and Cat, with the help of their apprentices, should be able to hammer them out and have them ready by mid-afternoon. If the families had already moved into the mountain, than the crews would be able to set the spikes in place and prepare the new coverings for the pits. Carl was pleased with the timeline and reported his findings to Larien. He was feeling confident that they would be ready long before the advancing armies arrived at their door.
The older children of the village were herding all the livestock into the pens specially made for their keeping up in the mountains. They were not going to be housed totally inside the mountain itself but in the outside caves. The iron fencing would keep them secured. All of the feed and hay needed was housed along the tunnels that led from the internal mountainous living quarters to the livestock areas outside. That way, no Angel would be seen out in the open caring for them.
Larien, Melilot, and Kat were helping transport the families to their temporary homes. The inner caverns were spacious and in some areas, quite beautiful with their stalactites and stalagmites touching and forming natural pillars of stone. Colorful tapestries were hung between them to section the various areas from each other and help keep the people warm. The temperature was cooler here but was a welcome respite from the hot weather outside the mountain. And as more people arrived, their collective body heat would make the surroundings quite toasty warm and comfortable. Wooden beds with leather strappings had been fashioned and were ready to accommodate the family groupings. There were plenty of warm blankets and goose-filled feather pillows already available for use. Several fire pits and two baking ovens had been built along the back end of the cavern for the cooking area. There was a natural upward draft from a small underground stream that ran through this area which took away any smoke. The clear water was fresh and crisp. The ladies would always have a couple of pots of water warming on the fires should anyone want some tea. The ale was contained in several oak barrels which floated in the spring waters and were tied with leather to spikes set into the rock. By doing this, the ale was kept cool and close at hand. The extra provisions were kept in an alcove off to the left of the kitchen area or in storage rooms along some of the other tunnels that connected the various caves with each other. Iron rods were set into the kitchen walls and leather strips were sewn together and strung across the rods to hang the herbs and dried vegetables used for cooking. There was a very large gathering area with tables and chairs where the Angels could sit or eat or talk or play games during their stay.
Fëanáro had a side room ready for the children’s schooling. He brought extra books and school materials and stocked the shelves so the children could continue their instruction. However, since he would be on the battlefield, it would be up to the mothers to work together on their children’s education. It could not be helped. However, he felt it important to try and keep the children on a somewhat normal schedule - the setting might be different but the learning would be the same. Larien also had a special area for cleric usage. The room was to the right of the kitchens and close to the water. She had her own fire pit there in case she had to cleanse her instruments. There were rods and leather straps also strung in her room for all of her healing herbs. There were shelves which were already stocked with her bandages, potions and poultices. She had a dozen beds already made and at the ready with room for more should any Angel need the help of the clerics.
While Larien was working her magic in the mountains, Caro was forging new spikes, and Carl was organizing the pits, the rest of the Council members and officers were busy preparing for the battle. Since the Angels were going to be attacked on all sides but the north, they had to make sure that weapons were at the ready in each of the battlements. The walls of the Keep were higher than normal, reaching almost 32 feet so the Angels felt fairly confident that any ladders brought by the advancing armies would fall short of that height. All of the surrounding walls were 26 feet deep on top and tapered to about 20 feet near the ground. The base of the ladders now would need to be placed further back. The warriors, in their haste to reach their targets, usually would not pay attention to the weight now placed on the ladders as they tried scaling the walls. Oftentimes, the weight would become too great and cause the ladders to break in two, rendering them useless and adding to the enemy’s casualties.
Tuls’ warriors were slowing coming into the village along with Finn’s. King Sylvain had a meeting of the generals in the Council Chambers so that everyone was clear as to their responsibilities and defense assignments. There were two draw bridges to the outer wall – one which lifted at the Keep gatehouse; the other at the mid-entrance gatehouse. Both had massive iron chains that helped bring the bridge up to the gatehouse openings, and both had three iron portcullises – one main entry from the drawbridge that was covered when the bridge was up and two on either side. Each draw bridge had its own winching system and needed several warriors working together to manipulate it. By bringing up both bridges, it was next to impossible for the enemy to gain entrance by just walking in, thus eliminating the possibility of battering rams being used. When under attack, the gates’ iron grillwork would allow the defenders to shoot arrows through the openings.
The Angels and their guests slept uneasily that night. Everything was ready to greet the advancing armies. All the Angels were secured in their mountain home along with provisions and livestock. The signal fires had been lit in case any neighboring villages could send aid. All the warriors had freshly- sharpened weapons, thanks to the efforts of Caro and Cat who stayed long after the spikes were completed. The warriors in the watch towers in the south, east and west kept a careful eye around the perimeter of the village walls, ready to give warning at the first sign of the enemy.
The first ground rumblings could be heard mid-day. The men in the towers noticed the dust rise on the horizon. Soon the battle horns could be heard from the South Tower, then the East Tower, then finally the West Tower. The cacophony of sounds overlapped each other, causing a din that sent shivers up the spines of those on the battlements. When they looked out over the plains on the other side of the Castle walls, they could see human beings marching toward them, lines and lines several hundred warriors deep, catapults being pulled by several oxen apiece, and ladders by the hundreds. Not a blade of grass could be seen, only waves and waves of armored warriors.
Deamon was looking at this sight. It was the largest he had ever seen. And from his perch upon the wall, he wasn’t thinking of the sheer number of the warriors or being attacked from all sides. No, he was thinking that somewhere in all that massive humanity was someone who was going to try to kill Larien and he didn’t know who it would be!
originally created 10 September 2011
