It was then that Brandella saw the elven charge to retake the battlement. She estimated nearly one hundred humans were swarming over the barricades, yet only a force of a dozen or so villagers were attempting to retake it.
With controlled fury, she began shooting her arrows at the enemy atop the barricades, trying desperately to buy a few moments more for the handful of elven martyrs. Despite her barrage of arrows, she expected the charging elves to be quickly slaughtered by the far-superior human forces. Although some elves did fall, the rest still managed to fight on, driving the humans, step by step, back up toward the top of the battlements. Brandella looked closely and saw someone she'd never seen before. He was taller than the other elves, and he fought with a ferocity she'd never witnessed. He ranged in front of the others, muscular body lithe in tooled leather, urging the elven soldiers on, battling like a brave warrior she had dreamed about as a little girl, a man who would come to her from a mythical world and take her on a grand journey to eternity. With all her heart, she hoped he would not die.*****
Tanis had no idea how many humans he had slain. He was drenched with blood and his own sweat. His broadsword slashed through his enemies, cutting a swath of red for the rest of his small and ever-diminishing contingent to follow.
Unknown to Tanis, the group had a secret weapon in its midst. It was Scowarr. With his head wrapped thoroughly in bandages, except for small slits for his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he was a fearsome sight. He had the appearance of a creature risen from the dead, a ghostlike apparition that could kill but could not be killed in turn. The horrible screams and cries that spewed from his mask of bandages sounded unearthly and terrible. The humans had no way of knowing that those screams were the hysterical ravings of a terrified man who had no idea what he was shouting in his abject fear. Neither did his fellow fighters, who pushed themselves faster and fiercer, following his example.
Wherever he charged, the humans fell away, stumbling back in dread of his wildly swinging sword. Soon Tanis and many of the remaining elven fighters took advantage of the effect Scowarr had on the enemy and attacked those who were already stumbling backward in fear.
The desperate tactic worked, and the line of humans began to falter and break. Tanis plunged forward, parrying the blow from a battle-axe, then kicking his foe in the stomach and knocking him backward from the top of the barricade. Another human dove at Tanis, attempting to wrap his arms around the half-elf's legs and wrestle him to the ground.
What the human hadn't counted on was the arrow that came out of nowhere to lodge in the back of his neck. His arms went slack as his limp body slammed into Tanis. The half-elf recovered his balance, wondering who had shot the arrow that had saved his life.
Brandella smiled grimly as she plucked another arrow from her rapidly diminishing pile.
The battle for the barricade was hardly over. Although Tanis and the others had gained the top of the battlement, now they had to hold it until the village reinforced them. The twilight made their situation that much more difficult.
Only eight of the elves who had joined him in the charge remained on their feet, and several were badly wounded. They couldn't hold out for long. Brandella nocked another arrow for her longbow, and let the deadly missile fly. Then a frantic voice challenged her from below the balcony.
'Brandella! You're still here!' Kishpa cried in anguish. 'I hoped you were on that ship in the harbor.'
Brandella saw the mage below her on the street. 'Never mind me,' she called back. 'You must use your magic to save our people on the southern barricade.'
Kishpa shook his head. 'I can't,' he intoned with a groan. 'I exhausted myself with the storm spell; I won't have enough strength for another spell until morning. Mertwig says-'
Brandella slung another arrow onto her bow. She took aim on the distant barricade as she shot sharp words at her lover. 'Never mind what Mertwig says. Have you seen what our people have done, how they have fought?' she insisted.
'I have,' he admitted. 'They are brave indeed, but you should have been on that ship!'
She let loose with the arrow and watched with satisfaction as another human soldier plummeted from the barricade. Her tone remained impatient. 'Please, Kishpa, say no more about my leaving. Say only that you'll help those poor creatures on the battlement!'
Brandella didn't immediately notice the pause that followed her words. 'IH try,' Kishpa finally said solemnly. 'Ill do it because you ask it of me.'
His tone penetrated her concentration, frightening her, and with a shock, Brandella realized what he risked for her. She leaned over the edge of the balcony, far out over the street, crying, 'Wait! Don't sacrifice yourself! I didn't mean…'
It was too late. Kishpa already had entered a trance and was muttering the sacred, long-forgotten words that would create an enchantment. His mage's robes stood out against the gray of the cobblestones like a splash of red blood.
When he finished, he collapsed on the street.
10
The silver-inlaid bnoadsword in Tanis hand might as well have been a boulder with a handle. His arm was so weary he could hardly lift it. As twilight descended, after more than four hours of intense fighting, Tanis and the others stood atop the barricade as yet another wave of human soldiers stormed the battlement.
They were eight bloodied defenders against nearly fifty fresh troops. Tanis looked apprehensively over his shoulder. He was shocked, yet unsurprised, by the sight of the empty streets behind him. No one was coming to help them. The villagers had gone after the humans who had already breached the barricade. Busy fighting little battles and small skirmishes from door to door, they were oblivious to the doom that awaited them if Tanis and his small band were destroyed. He drooped with fatigue, staying on his feet only by an act of will. Was it only a day ago, the half-elf wondered, that he was caught in the fire with Clotnik, or was the fire still scores of years in the future?
Scowarr stood next to Tanis, his bandaged head splattered with human blood. He had killed no one, but his presence in their ranks surely had been key to the brave elven stand. He had long since stopped screaming in total terror, principally, Tanis thought, because the man could no longer speak above a raspy whisper, and even that seemed to pain him. The human-Had Tanis once thought him frail? — was long past fear now, his fevered mind awash in the battles he had fought and survived. No matter that his throat felt as if he had swallowed hot coals, nothing alive or dead on Krynn could have stopped him from talking now…
'I think-yes, I know-I should have become a Knight of Solamnia,' he sputtered painfully.
Tanis looked over at the man and fought a smile as he compared Little Shoulders Scowarr with the muscular Sturm Brightblade.
'Imagine,' Scowarr rasped, 'fighting all those soldiers for so long, and I'm still alive! Not even a scratch!' He grabbed Tanis by the arm and exclaimed, 'They see me coming, and they run! Imagine it! Ah, but you don't have to imagine it. You can see it with your own eyes! They fear me and my sword, shrinking from my every step. Let them come!' he screeched.
With Scowarr's exuberant movements, tufts of his light brown hair poked through gaps in his bandages, but he appeared unaware. Instead, he struck a defiant pose in the dying light. 'Let them come!' he proclaimed. 'Let them see what they get at the hands of Little Shoulders Scowarr! I'm not afraid of any of them. No more! Never! I say, let them come!'
Tanis wanted to hug this put-upon creature, who was willing to die with the dignity of a giant. If anyone,
