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 approaching to seal Evelah's doom.
Slowly the marching thrum grew closer. Ethan waited among those upon the wall. He wondered when it would be the right time to shift into the spiritual realm and attack. But a horde of demons had been among those with Mordred on his ships and there was no reason to suppose they hadn't come with him now. His own tingling flesh told him it was true. They were great in number and despite the power Shaddai had given unto him, he remained only one.
Ethan whispered a prayer for the protection of these people and for personal guidance during the battle. He wanted to be led by the Lord completely. Otherwise this battle would not go well. It might end badly at any rate, but if he followed Shaddai's leadership he would come through closer to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Ethan kept that one thought at the forefront of his mind. A prophecy had been made and a prophecy must be fulfilled. He had no idea how it might come about, only that it would, in some way, be completed as it should. That one thought comforted him now as the drumming of feet in the dark grew louder and closer.
Mordred might indeed sack Wayland's capital today. He might kill the King. He might manage, even, to take all of Wayland, but the time would come when destruction would come down upon him from on high. A smile spread across his face, until he thought about those he might lose in the process.
His friends might be killed tonight. And what about Gideon? Where was he in all of this? His mind wandered back to the night before when he had faced the man upon the palace wall. Gideon had spared him despite his threats to the contrary. Where was he at this moment and what was he doing? Had he run from the city, back to Mordred to receive new instructions, or was he lurking among Evelah's ruins waiting for another opportunity to strike at him?
There was one thing Ethan was certain of. This was no time to ponder the possibilities. A great battle lay before them all now. Whatever the future held for any of them Shaddai was still in control.
Gideon stood upon the wall surrounding Evelah. He stood anonymous among several thousand of the King's soldiers spread out along the northern portion of the great wall. It was broad enough at the top so that two wagons could drive its length side by side. Now, with so many men atop it, the wall seemed crowded and stiflingly so.
He had found a helmet, as expected, lying in the street near a fallen soldier of Wayland. It wasn't exactly a match for the uniform he'd taken from the guard outpost, but considering the cobble of uniforms he saw on the newly conscripted citizens here on the wall, he doubted that it mattered. No one was looking for him. All that anyone in Evelah cared about at the moment was the steady march of the approaching army.
Everyone remained silent as their heavy steps echoed out of the mist-shrouded darkness. The torches upon the wall could not penetrate the fog. Gideon closed his eyes to pray. The breathing of the anxious men filled his ears. They weren't saying it, but they were all scared to death. There was good reason to be. The army that Gideon had seen massing on Wayland's northern shore had been unlike any he'd ever seen assembled.
Gideon prayed.
As he opened his eyes again, he realized the steady thrum of the march had stopped. He could sense them out just beyond sight-the heavy mist shielding them from thousands of fearful, watching eyes. The trees that bordered the city may have been beautiful on a spring day, but they were a curse now. The enemy stood among them hidden.
A lone cry came up out of the darkness then. One voice calling out to King Stephen himself. Gideon immediately recognized the man. If there had been any doubt before, now he was sure. Mordred had indeed come along to lead this campaign.
"Stephen!" Mordred cried. "I've come for you, Stephen! With an army beyond your imagination! Surrender now. Have these cowards lay down their arms and I might show you some mercy."
From a hundred yards down the wall, Gideon heard the King's reply. "We are no cowards, Mordred!" Stephen said. "We will never surrender Evelah to you!"
Laughter resounded from Mordred and his army after him. When it had died down, he said, "Dear Stephen, I was so hoping you would say that!"
Gideon heard something building then in the darkness…footsteps…giant footsteps.
Out of the fog, coming directly down the main road to the heavy iron gate of the city, came a host of the giants that Gideon had seen upon the northern shore. They ran in two long lines, each pushing one side of a massive, rolling battering ram. It appeared to have been fashioned from a huge tree and was still several hundred feet long. At the head of it a heavy, spiked iron ball, much like a mace, had been added. Along its sides, long metal spikes had been driven straight through the trunk so that nearly fifty giants could push it.
With a number of wheels bearing its weight, the full force of the giant's combined strength could be utilized in the ramming. Gideon thought about the gate. It consisted of a heavy iron meshwork which drove into metal slots in the ground. Beyond that stood two massive wooden doors reinforced with steel bands. It wouldn't hold for very long against what he saw coming.
The order sounded from the King. "Fire!"
Archers, established along the length of the wall, fired their arrows at the approaching giants. These brutes had been outfitted with armor, but still some of the shots got through. Some of the giants faltered as they were struck repeatedly, but they did not stop.
Angry now, their pace only increased as they screamed in fury and planted the battering ram into the iron portcullis. The impact shook everyone on the wall within one hundred yards of the gate. The iron held, but had been dented significantly. "Fire again!" King Stephen screamed.
The archers, shaken and bewildered, leaned over the wall and took aim again. Gideon didn't have a bow on him, only two swords. He leaned after the archers. Suddenly the man in front of him screamed and fell back onto Gideon. He had an arrow protruding from his sternum.
Gideon snatched the man's bow and quiver as he eased him to the ground. He nocked two arrows as return fire took down more men around him. He leaned over the edge, sighted two enemy archers hiding among the trees and shot them out of the branches. These and many more were providing the cover fire necessary for the giants to back up with their battering ram in order to give it another run.
"The trees," Gideon cried, hoping to warn the others nearby. He fired again. Another of them fell out of the branches. Meanwhile the giants had managed to get enough space between themselves and the gate. They surged forward again with the ram. The king's archers tried to fire on them again, but the enemy provided cover fire on a grander scale.
The giants hit the gate again. It buckled and gave way. The portcullis fell under the ram as it smashed through and hit the wooden double doors. The blow had been almost fully absorbed on the portcullis and went no further. The king, realizing the imminent breach, ordered his men down from the wall. "Hurry, before they break through! Meet them at arms!"