smoke down to the billowing, ballooned sail cloth. As soon as the arrows struck, the pitch ignited the fabric, now dry from all of the hot air pumped into it. The fire spread across the top quickly on both sides of the balloon rigging.
In moments, the air bags holding them aloft had burned wide open. The ship dropped out of the sky like a stone. It shattered in pieces inside one of the King's famous prayer parks-places built for contemplation of Shaddai's word. Fortunately, no one was currently using them. The citizens of Evelah were still busy running for their lives from the aerial onslaught.
'Let's get after them, boys!' Levi shouted. He opened up the horsepower to the fans and took the high road hoping to strafe as many of the Man-o-wars as possible before they knew what was happening. Clearly the flames were their weakness and Levi intended to exploit that advantage as long as he could.
Ethan joined Kline and Devon at the rails. They ran back and forth from port to starboard, firing flaming arrows, their tips dipped into the black pitch and then lit from the coal stoves burning beneath the ships balloons. The attack proved more successful than they might have anticipated.
Most of the Man-o-wars had been too busy to even notice the other ships going down. And their own bombs falling to the city below kept up so much racket they hadn't even noticed the cannon fire. Now their ignorance had come back to bite them. Most of the crews didn't even realize what had happened to them. One minute they were the kings of the sky, bombing innocent civilians below and pocking the landscape for years to come, the next moment their own hot air balloons were bursting into flame above them. They dropped like dead birds to the waiting city below.
The majority of the Man-o-wars went down rather easily given Levi's better plan of attack. Still, there were a few which managed to put up a good fight. By the time the last of the airships had fallen, Levi's new ship was pocked full of cannonball holes. She never would have lasted in the open water. When Levi finally brought the ship down for a landing, in the main courtyard at King Stephen's palace, pieces were still falling off of the hull.
The great Man-o-war airship landed with a groaning smack against the pavement stones. Ethan watched as the King's guard gathered around the ship as it rocked back and forth, wobbling on the keel. Despite the modifications Mordred's people had made in the design, it still appeared to be meant for a water landing.
Levi threw over a rope ladder lashed to the rail and shimmied down quickly, ignoring the presence of the soldiers for the more urgent matter at hand. 'You men, there, go and get something to brace the ship. Quickly! Don't stand there gawking at me! Go before the balloons deflate and allow her to roll onto her side!'
The soldiers, looking quite confused, broke up to go and do as he'd bidden them. The majority of the soldiers remained, however. King Stephen was among them, watching Levi. He approached the Captain, but Ethan noticed that the man didn't have the same demeanor about him as before.
Stephen actually smiled as he came upon Levi, still in action trying to get the ship properly settled. Ethan passed through the spiritual plane, appearing next to Levi while Kline and Devon climbed over the side as the Captain had done.
Ethan wondered if his presence with Levi might change the King's expression, but though Stephen looked thoughtful when he saw him, he continued to smile. 'Captain Bonifast, once again you prove to me that your loyalties are as solid as ever,' Stephen said.
He shook Levi's hand vigorously. 'I couldn't have done it without Ethan, Your Majesty,' Levi said, indicating him with a pointed finger resting on the boy's chest.
King Stephen looked at Ethan, even bowing his head slightly. 'Yes, of course. My apologies, young man. I realize now that my earlier fears were far too hasty on your behalf.'
Ethan wasn't quite sure how to take the drastic change in the king, but was glad for it nonetheless. 'Not a problem, Your Majesty,' Ethan said. 'I only hope our efforts were enough.'
'Aye, I saw a massive dust cloud to the north as the attack began,' Levi said. 'Despite this victory, I fear we've only seen a glimpse of what awaits us when Mordred arrives.'
'And it can't be far off now,' Ethan said. 'Those Man-o-wars have given Mordred's army time if nothing else.'
The king nodded solemnly. 'Well, I suppose all we can do now is do our best and hope for the same. Come with me gentlemen and we'll go over our planned defense.'
Levi and Ethan, with Kline and Devon strode after King Stephen and his entourage heading inside the palace. For the most part, the palace remained in good order. The Man-o-wars had hardly made it so far into the city before the counter attack had begun. The city of Evelah smoldered as buildings continued to burn and lives lay broken in the streets. And the worst was still yet to come.
SEIGE
Gideon rode his horse as hard as the animal would go, trying to remain ahead of Mordred's army on the way to Evelah. He had diverted from the main road almost a mile away so that he could round the wall through the bordering forest and come into the city through The Order's secret tunnel. Coming back into the city, he couldn't believe the damage he found.
Before him, in the street, lay one of the huge Man-o-war battleships he had witnessed rising out of the Azure Sea earlier in the day. The massive balloons which had been rigged from their sail cloth appeared to have been burned away somehow.
As Gideon scanned the city before him, he saw multiple fires with plumes of gray smoke rising into the approaching twilight. He could see more airships in similar states of destruction lying throughout the area where he was. Some had landed in the streets, while others had fallen upon houses and other buildings in Evelah, collapsing them under their weight.
He wasn't sure how, but King Stephen had evidently been ready with some plan when the strange ships arrived. The only activity he could spot at the moment was families trying to search the rubble for loved ones and the wounded crying in the street.
The army would begin their assault upon the wall in less than an hour. He had to find some way to fight without being recognized. Gideon realized he was still wearing the armor of Wayland's King. Now all he needed was a helmet to match, then no one would know who he was. As night began to fall, he went through the debris filled streets in search of a fallen soldier from whom he might borrow a piece of anonymity.
After a briefing by King Stephen and his War Master, Ethan and Levi found themselves marching to the wall. This would be the inevitable first line of defense for the city. Every man able to wield a weapon had been conscripted into action. What remained of Evelah would have to fight for their lives tonight.
There was a full moon shining down brightly upon the city. Evelah still smoldered behind them all the way to the palace's outer perimeter. In the event the wall was breached, the King would be escorted back to the palace by his special guard comprised of the priests in The Order here in Wayland. Now, they stood upon the wall, ready to fight along with the King himself.
Ethan had wondered about Stephen's change in attitude before. By now he felt sure that the demonic oppression which had settled upon the monarch for so long had finally given way to his better nature. Stephen was outfitted in gleaming silver armor, a silver diadem and his sword. He would fight alongside his men for as long as possible.
Of what little he knew about the King of Wayland, this happened to be one of his greater qualities and one for which the people had loved him for so long. As rumors went, this one happened to be true. Just as he had fought so hard at Emmanuel City a year ago, tonight he would fight again.
When they had realized where the King wanted him and Levi to be stationed, they had sent back word to the Temple, hoping to persuade Seth to remain there with Isaiah while the other priests from the Nodian Order came to fight. Seth had decided the frontline was his place and stood nearby, trying to echolocate through the dense fog lying at the perimeter of the forest.
Many of the soldiers upon the wall, civilians only inducted into the service this day, shook visibly with fright as their king called out across the wall for them to show no fear in the face of the enemy. Already they had been privy to the drumming cadence of the enemy's march. Out in the foggy night, it sounded like thousands
