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Heinrich struggled to keep his eyes open and alert as he scanned the endless expanse of ocean from the gunners seat mounted on his heavy ballista. He was one of four watchmen posted at regular intervals along the eastern, sea-facing wall of Llaquadar, it was his job to be the first line of defense against raids while the rest of the cities defenders could be roused.
Four other coastal settlements had been raided in the last six nights, including the major port of New Thurm, and the confederation was taking no chances that Thurm would fall into enemy hands. The hospital here was too valuable to the war effort. Thus, here he was. Usually he was a skiff runner, hauling mail and small cargo up and down the coast, but he and his two person crew had been drafted into the city watch upon arrival that morning.
Heinrich fought valiantly to stay awake. He hadn't had much sleep these last few days, having run his crew and himself ragged delivering messages between several cities, dodging imperium patrols, and even fighting off an imperium scoutship two nights ago. He powered through the heaviness in his eyelids and continued to watch the waves.
He had breifly considered arguing against being pressganged into service, but he was a loyal citizen of the confederation, and it was every loyal citizens' duty to answer when his nation called for service. The draft was the perogative of every city government in a time of war, and while it wasn't common, it was only for a three month tour (as prescribed by the Articles of Confederation and Mutual Defense). Heinrich had grown up in the Confederation of Free Peoples and defending his country was as ingrained into him as his own name. As it was in every loyal citizen.
And really. Night watch wasn't so bad. He just had to stay awake and watch for imperium raiding ships. If he spotted a hostile ship, not blinking the correct entry code, he was to light the red beacon mounted over his head. This would alert the central tower to ring the giant bells that would rouse the rest of the cities' defenders. He might be required to fire his ballista (a massive crossbow, mounted on a swivel turret, that fired six-inch diameter wooden bolts) to slow down any invaders while the defenders were getting into position, but four turrets wouldn't do much against even a small raiding party.
He sat up straighter in his mount, renewing his scanning. He would not fall asleep at his post. He WOULDN'T. He did allow his mind to wander a bit though. He thought back on his childhood, sitting on his fathers lap by firelight, listening to his great grandfathers tales of the early war.
The Elvish Imperium had gone to war against all other sentient species more than a hundred years ago. That first year had been an absolute orgy of xenophobic elves attacking and burning every non-elvish settlement on the entire eastern continent of Arcanah. Then they started across the stormy sea. Conquering and fortifying the southern islands one by one until they were within striking distance of the western mainland. The drawven Undersand Mines had put up a valient defense against the elven army, but their defenses were just too weak to hold off forever.
In response to the growing threat, the small cities and kingdoms of the western continent had banded together under the Articles of Confederation and Mutual Defense, combined all of their standing armies into a single command, and marched off to war.
It had been a hard struggle, but the Confederation eventually fought the Imperium to a standstill. Neither side had given up, but neither did anyone have a decisive advantage. Things had stagnated in the century since then, with the conflict evolving into a sort of cold war that had just become a way of life for the people.
Heinrich was startled out of hie reverie by a sudden flash of scarlet to his right, he glanced over and Yes! The southernmost ballista tower was ablaze in red flame, the signal of an attack! He concentrated on the sea to the south, but he didn't see any- Wait! There it was! An imperium blockade runner, sailing without running lights. And there were two more behind it. And four more behind those. And eight more behind them! It was a full scale invasion!
He jerked on the rope that would light his signal beacon and cranked his ballista around to face the invaders. This took precious seconds, and he had time to wonder why the bells weren't ringing yet before he got the lead ship in his sights.
He fired his first bolt, splashing the water not six feet from the lead ship, which veered away from the shot after the bolt had gone wide. 'Heh' he thought as he cranked down the lever that activated the clockwork reloading mechanism. He slightly adjusted his aim, fired, and was already reloading before his bolt struck a hole in the port side of the runner. 'Two for flinching!' He fired his second bolt, still leading the front ship, and struck another man sized hole in the lead ship, but this time something strange happened.
BOOM!
The entire ship blew apart in a fireball that could only mean the cargo holds had been packed with gunpowder! Gunpowder was exceedingly rare, especially this far north of the southern islands. These ships must be bombs, trying to bring down the wall for the main attack fleet! He didn't have time to dwell on it, as the second wave of ships was coming into range now. Why weren't the damn bells ringing? Surely they've noticed the signal flares by now!
He aimed, fired and reloaded six more times. Blowing up two more bombships while his tower mates got no less than seven of their own! There were still five runners, skimming straight at the wall at top speed when the hail of arrows began. Just coming into view now, on the horizon, were the elven troopships with their damned longbowmen. The confederation could outmatch the elves in sheer firepower, but their damn enchanted bows were just plain longer range than anything the confederation could muster.
Heinrich hunkered down behind his turret shielding, flinching as a seemingly endless cloud of arrows slammed home in the thick wood that formed a half circle in front of and above him. He risked a glance behind him at the bell tower and caught the faint shimmer in the air that meant some sort of magic had been used. At thi's range it was probably only a sleeping spell, but effective enough at silencing a signal tower.
Four explosions in quick succession, each slightly closer than the last signified that his mates had hit some of the oncoming bombers. He sat back up and fired off a quick bolt at the last remaining runner. He ducked down, pulling the reload lever as he did, without waiting to see if his bolt would strike true. BOOM There it was. 'Good, at least the wall's safe, for now, but where's the damn bell!?' He thought as a second wave of arrows rained down on his position.
The sinking realization that the bells wouldn't be ringing brought a grim frown to his face. Without the bells, the city defenders would be caught unawares, and with a raid this size, it wouldn't take much for the defenders to lose the momentum in a hurry. He made up his mind and set his jaw.
When the second wave of arrows slacked off, he began cranking his turret around. Pointing the heavy ballista not out at sea but into the city itself. Leaving his unprotected back wide open to the longbowmen It took time to get into position, and he could almost hear the whistling of the third wave of arrows as he lined up his shot.
The first arrow struck him in the right shoulder, the second in his lower back. Another bounced off his helmet while a fourth tore a hole across his left midsection. Still he grit his teeth and cranked the turret around.
He was struck three more times, each one jarring him painfully, before his ballista was aligned, and his vision was beginning to fade. He used his very last ounce of strength to pull the heavy trigger, the THWANG of his ballista bouncing his now limp body out of the mount.
As he fell from his tower, he fought to stay conscious through the pain. The last thing he heard was the GONG-GONG-GONG of the massive bells as his bolt struck true before welcoming blackness overcame him.
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I hope you liked this one, you may have recognized the setting from my old D&D campaign. I plan to write more stories from the Human/Elven war in the future. Be sure to give me your feedback in the comments below!
Till tomorrow, lads!
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