The Prophesy: Book 3 - The Hammer of Atlantis

 

While Harp was dealing with the Centurion and his minions, Enron and his group climbed way above the cloud cover and reduced their speed to slightly below the sound barrier. Enron saw no reason to wake up everyone within a hundred miles until such time as he judged it necessary. It took them an hour and twenty-two minutes to reach Bam-Bam from their camp; by then, it was well past an hour after compline and the darkness was complete. The castle was barely visible, detectable only by the presence of residual heat escaping from its chimneys that were visible as infrared plumes to the dragons' eyesight. An occasional open pit fire simmered out of the town, while most buildings, composed mainly of wood, showed they were present by a faint, very faint trace of heat from their hearth. The streets were deserted; not even animals were out. The castle's walls showed faint footprints, indicating the occasional passage of a guard.

«We want the prince alive! Until we have found him, discretion is in order! We must search silently, go unnoticed, and take him out without raising the alarm. I'll handle the dungeon and towers with Uwibami as back up; Sitar, you handle the basement with Apalapa. If you happen to meet a guard, kill him by using magic. Swords are too noisy and take too long!»

«All right Enron, what do we do once we have found the prince?»

«Port him directly to Harold. Once this is done, flatten this place! I want every single piece of rock that makes this castle in the middle of the Atlantic by matins! If someone fights, kill with extreme prejudice! Those who are in charge of torturing prisoners are to be killed, even if they cower in their own shit! That goes for the leadership of this hell hole!»

The boys and their bonded converted to human form after gliding to land inside the inner courtyard one after another. Enron and Uwibami climbed the steps leading to the main door, while Sitar and Apalapa followed their nose: jails have that acrid smell of unwashed bodies, of excrements, and of fear that acted as a compass to the exacerbated senses of the two. Enron met his first issue immediately: the main door was locked! His first instinct was to blow the door down with a burst of magic, but he refrained himself just in time. He explored the door with his fingers as Uwibami kept watch for a patrol.

"Down!" whispered Uwibami as he spotted a soldier walking on a far wall.

The two intrepid crouched down, which let Enron notice that the door was badly set, offering a narrow space between the pave and its bottom near the doorframe.

"Mice, Uwibami. I found a way in!"

The two boys shifted forms and scurried under the door. As they emerged on the other side, they spotted the great hall, occupied, even at that late hour, by a number of guards. They kept their form to make their way around the hall, trying to stay invisible and safe.

«Where next?»

«Let's get our bearings. On the left, I can smell the kitchen, so it's not likely to be in that direction. Kitchens in castles are in lower parts of the building, toward the rear. The guard station is right beside us, and the armoury, with its odour of rust, right beside it. The right part seems promising. Right across the room is the private quarters of the castellan, from what I gather, just by the number of guards near those doors. So, to the right we go.»

The two mice made it unobstructed to the first step of a landing. Two doors appeared as they managed to jump onto the landing.

«Left or right?»

«Right again,» replied Enron. «The prince must be easily accessible to be killed at the first sign of trouble, and putting him in a difficult to reach tower would not be appropriate.»

This time the door did not offer any passage.

«I will have to take human form to open that door. Climb on my shoulder as soon as I've changed shape.»

The boys watched the noisy assembly and as one of the guards began a fight, attracting the attention of the others to his opponent and himself, Enron took his human shape, opened the door as Uwibami climbed up his clothes, and passed inside the tower. The darkness was total, so the boys made another change of form, to a wolf, so they could see well in the darkness. The boys climbed up the stairs quickly, meeting no one. The first landing showed a door with a Judas peephole that revealed an empty cell; the boys continued their way up and the second landing revealed an opaque door.

"That must be the hallway leading to the family area. Let me seal this tight! It will take an army to bring it down!" After a silent spell, Enron resumed the climb, followed by Uwibami. The next few landings brought more cells, one of which contained a man that showed atrocious wounds. Enron ported across the door, and came back a few seconds later.

"He's dead. Up we go!"

The next level showed two more cells, all empty. The next level was accessible only through a trap in the roof of the room, but no ladder was visible.

"I guess the access ladder is up above. That tells me there are guards and potentially one or more prisoners up there. Take your Blades out. Kill on materialization Uwibami; remain silent but effective!"

The two boys ported right above the trap, and found four guards playing cards. Even before the guards had realized some new card players had appeared, two lost their head. As the other two stood to pull their swords out, Uwibami cut the windpipe of his next opponent; Enron slashed the head of his target from top to bottom.

"Port them to the ocean! We do not need to have dripping blood and bowels on us as we move down!"

The bodies disappeared rapidly in the night, and the boys began examining the four cells, all occupied. Each cell held two prisoners, tied facing each other across opposing walls, manacled and shackled. The boys quickly assessed the situation. All eight prisoners showed extreme signs of torture, and food and water deprivation.

«Dad! Ready the campaign hospital to receive eight tortured souls! We are freeing them now!»

«It's ready, Enron. King Harold ordered it as soon as the rescue plan was hatched!»

Meanwhile Uwibami moved to another cell and dissolved to rust the chains and restraints. «I have two to port immediately!» he transmitted

«Port to my location!» ordered Paschal, «I ported back to Thebes' general hospital, and I've activated a number of stasis chambers for them. The campaign hospital is nice for small wounds, but this seems heavy!»

Uwibami ported his two freshly released prisoners to Paschal, and Enron followed suit immediately after with his two. As Paschal ported the newly released prisoners within the stasis chambers, Enron and Uwibami moved to the next pair of cells to repeat the process.

***

Sitar and Apalapa followed their nose to the underground jail, and found a series of griddled openings leading into cells. The two converted to rats and jumped down, landing on all fours in a thick layer of moulded hay laced with copious amounts of dejections. The two took human form and, unable to see anything, reconverted immediately to wolf form. The scene revealed was of a huge dorm with men, women, and children tied to the walls,

«Let's be silent and port them to Paschal. First, get a count! Deal from the door along the left, I'll do from the door to the right,» decided Sitar.

The two noiselessly counted the number of people they saw and came to an astounding two hundred, packed tightly together, and all showing signs of torture to diverse degree.

«Paschal? Can you activate two hundred stasis chambers?» asked Sitar.

«Give me three minutes! I'm already running like mad, and I've summoned healers to deal with the activation process! Try to establish priorities!»

«It's difficult, Paschal. I do not dare create light that might be seen in the hallway across the door!"

«Check for a pulse at the neck, elbow, and wrist levels. The lower the pulse, the less critical! If there is no neck pulse on the right side at the carotid, the person is probably dead!"

«What do we do then?»

«Cover the body with a blanket! I will recheck them on arrival and port them to the morgue for identification later!»

«Expect your first morgue entry in a second, Paschal! Uwibami and I are progressing down the stairwell and will be at the first landing where we found the corpse earlier. Ah, here we are! I'm materializing a red blanket. Uwibami has dissolved the bonds, and we are now covering the body with the blanket. It's ported.»

«It's received. Given the state of the body I need not do any test for life signs! I'm porting it to the morgue where the mortician will put the body on the iced granite slab for conservation. Port any object in the cell within a bag; they may help identify the body later.»

«Uwibami is collecting everything. I'm getting rid of the hay by porting it to the sea.»

«Paschal, I'm porting a critical case! He just stopped breathing!» said Sitar, as a body materialised in the sorting area at the General Hospital. Paschal immediately placed the incoming into a stasis chamber and triggered resuscitation procedures, while closing the chamber's dual lids and flooding its inside with regenerative fluids. He could see the body spasm as the electrodes descended to the heart to maintain its functions and another set took over activating the thoracic muscles to force breathing of the regenerative fluid.

More and more bodies materialized in the sorting hall. Paschal and the healers worked furiously to heal and save as many as they could, but Paschal had to admit there were quite a few dead in the stream, mostly children that had not survived the physical abuse they had been put through. It seemed entire families had been collected and tortured in plain sight of each other.

After twenty minutes, during which a body was ported every six seconds by either Sitar or Apalapa, the dorm was empty of all occupants.

***

Meanwhile, Enron had moved back down to the door and gently opened it to peek in the grand hall. A guard was standing, his back to the door and looking toward the still very active group, laughing. Enron closed the door and indicated to Uwibami to move up to the upper landing.

"A Decurion is coming to inspect the tower, damn it!" he whispered. "We need to dispose of him silently. Let's wait until he is on the landing, and port him straight out to the ocean. I doubt he will swim well with the armour he is wearing!"

The boys listened as the door loudly opened, slammed against the wall and was slammed shut, creating a reverberating bang.

"If I wanted to do a surprise inspection, it wouldn't be that way!" muttered Uwibami as they saw the flickering light of a torch get closer along the spiralling staircase. As soon as the man stepped on the landing, he saw the boys and began to open his mouth to yell an alarm, but his cry was lost in the mid-Atlantic as he took a barrel of salted water for his efforts. He began sinking right away, on his way to the ocean floor eleven thousand feet below, and four hours away!

"Let's get out of here!" said Enron.

The boys returned to the door and again peeked outside. The alcohol was beginning to take its toll and many legionnaires were rolling under the table. If that reduced the number of bleary eyes watching around, it also reduced the level of noise.

"Let's port across the door, then to the next one and then inside the other tower. With any luck, if someone sees us, he will blame it on his inebriated mind!"

Enron and Uwibami did as Enron had suggested and ported in the other tower in a flash. A Decurion did see them, and got up to investigate what he had seen, but his legs gave way and he fell on one of his men which did not like the falling Decurion and landed a nice uppercut that put the curious soldier out of his misery.

The boys quickly explored each landing, porting every prisoner they found and again disposing of four more guards before returning to the hall.

"Damn it! Where is that prince?" asked Uwibami.

"He is either dead, ported into Thebes already, or we have not found him yet. There are two more towers accessible from the hall. We might as well search them, if only to rescue the prisoners in them!"

***

Sitar gently opened the spy hole to check the hallway on the other side. It showed some torches, half of which were lighted, and guards walking along the halls, disappearing down in the distance. Across the hallway was another door.

"Let's port to that other room. The presence of a spy hole indicates it is a cell as well."

Apalapa followed Sitar's indications and they found themselves in another cell, containing just about the same number of prisoners as the first they had visited earlier.

«We are repeating the earlier process, Paschal. Set up the number of requisite chambers!»

«It's done already.»

The process began anew, with similar results.

"We have a problem, Sitar. We cannot see the next door along the hallway."

"I'm aware of that. Open the spy hole and I'll convert to a mouse and jump in the hallway. As soon as the hall is free of guards you port as a human and I'll convert back to my standard form!"

It became apparent to Sitar the number of cells was considerable. He counted ten doors in this segment alone, and a ninety-degree change of direction hid further extents of the impressive jail. At their end, a set of spiralling stairs led to the outer courtyard, and possibly to higher levels of the jail, while the same set of stairs dove into an inscrutable darkness, revealing deeper levels. Five men were roaming around, and two were heading toward the corner, while three were heading toward him and the stairs. Sitar ducked in a dark corner and waited until the offending parties vanished out of sight.

«The hallway is clear Apalapa. Port!»

The two quickly decided to change their tactics. They followed the three descending soldiers, and as they were halfway down, they ported them for a major coldwater therapy.

"Aren't we polluting the Atlantic?" quipped Apalapa.

"No, we are feeding the fishes!"

Reaching the bottom of the stairs to the next lowest level, the two explorers quickly found there were three guards, which vanished as soon as they were seen. The corner revealed another two discussing their last rape, and they too joined their friends on a one-way cruise trip! The boys then returned to the stairs and continued down. There were no guards, and no lighted torches. Sitar didn't trust this so he created an artificial light, which revealed doors that led to torture chambers. Corpses or severely maimed bodies that were on the verge of dying occupied most. Everyone was ported quickly to Paschal's care.

"Let's get back up to the first underground level, and get rid of the guards there. I don't like having enemies behind me."

The two climbed up and visited the first level, finding a card game in full progress, which ended up in the same cemetery as the previous soldiers had visited.

«Paschal, we begin evacuating all the cells, I counted ten doors per segment, which means twenty doors per level; if the second level is as occupied as the first, expect another seven thousand six hundred causalities!»

«I have set ten thousand stasis chambers on standby; every healer in town is present and accounted for. The campaign hospital has been ported right in the General Hospital inner courtyard and the personnel are back. We are ready! Expect the arrival of the other princes to speed the porting process. I have asked Harp and the others to join you, minus Enron and Uwibami that are still searching the castle for the prince!»

«I was going to ask for assistance, at our speed it would take a little more then twelve hours to clean these lower levels.»

Just then the other princes ported in the hallway, and Sitar distributed the tasks. By the time everyone had been assigned to a task force, the transfer rate had risen to two persons per second, pushing the triage room's capacity to its last limits.

«The estimated time to finish is now at one hour for the lower levels alone! We have no idea of how many levels are above ground! We are two hours before matins, which should spell a change of guards! We must be finished before then!» Sitar informed everyone.

***

Meanwhile Enron and Uwibami made their way across the room as mice and climbed the furthest tower, mimicking their exploratory methods of earlier. This time, no cells were found, but rather rooms for visitors, some of which were occupied. There were also more guards, who took a dive into the Atlantic, joining a nice garden of armoured corpses. The kitchen was visited just in case, and a few guards that happened to be feeding on the reserves were converted to fish food. A few prisoners occupied the other tower and they were immediately dispatched to Thebes for care as their guardians began a new career as underwater cemetery watchmen!

«No prince in the towers. The only place we have not visited is the private halls of the castellan. That will not be a piece of cake!»

«Let's port directly in front of that door you so elegantly sealed!» suggested Uwibami.

The boys ported there and then ported across to find themselves in a well-lit hall, with numerous doors. A single sleepy guard was sitting near an ornate door, but the cold waters of the ocean woke him up way too briefly for him to do anything about his steel weight.

«That's our twat's sleeping quarters. Let's look along the rest of the hall and beyond that door at the end!»

The boys moved there and, after looking through the keyhole, they ported on the other side.

«That door leads to the other tower where we saw the visitors. There is nothing to gain that way, let's go back to the bedroom with the ornate door. Come to think about it, it makes sense, I would keep a hostage close at hand should he become handy!» explained Enron.

They returned to the door and ported on the other side. A person was kneeling near the bed, hands tied to a bedpost, and a muzzle to keep him quiet. The person was leaning back, literally sleeping on its knees and held up by the chains. In bed was a gently snoring man, holding a knife loosely on his torso. Enron ported the prisoner back to Harold, bed, chains and all, as he was sure the king would be able to release the prisoner. Meanwhile the jailer collapsed on the cold floor where the bed had been, and Uwibami disposed of everything in the room, including bed sheets and nightclothes. The shocked man groaned and Enron put a silencing spell on the room.

"If it's how humans look when they get old, I much prefer being a dragon, Enron!" commented Uwibami as he looked at the man standing up. "No wonder he gains power by torturing others, given the noodle that dangles between his leg! Even an unhatched eggling is better equipped than he is!"

Enron couldn't help but laugh at the acerbic comments and agree with them. The castellan was looking at the two laughing boys wondering what had happened.

"Who are you? How did you get here? Where is my hostage? Guards! Intruders!" he yelled at the maximum of his lungs.

"You can yell as much as you want. A good part of your troop is now taking lessons in deep sea swimming with armour!" Enron informed him.

"I'm going to whip your impertinent ass!" yelled the man as he charged. Enron sidestepped the man, left a foot in the way and as the man began to fall, he grabbed the man's arm and sent him smashing in the wooden door. The boys walked to the centre of the room waiting for the man to stand up again.

"We walked in, that's how we got here," Uwibami informed the man. "Our task is to completely clean up this nest of cockroaches!"

"As for who we are, well, I am King Enron of the Elves, and this is Uwibami, my dragon bonded and prince of the Dragons! We are here to render justice!"

"Justice? The only justice I know is by the weapons of the powerful! And no child is king! Even if it is true, you would do a nice hostage!"

"I doubt that, bastard. By royal decree, I condemn you and your cronies to death. Drowning is too gentle for you! Die by fire to pay for your crimes!" Enron and Uwibami converted to dragon form, and torched the man alive! The hollering man's voice went unheard due to the silencing charm put in place earlier by Enron. Once the man was converted to cinders, the residue was dumped in the river.

"Let's finish the cleanup of this rats' nest. First, the guards down in the Great Hall, then we do the command post, the tocsin, the door and drawbridge, and finally the barracks. We have an hour!" Enron then contacted Sitar. «Sitar, where are you on the evacuation of the jail? We ported the prince to safety. I suggest we maintain silence until all prisoners have been freed.»

***

Sitar and his team had been busy, and were now regrouping to progress into the higher levels of the jail.

«We finished the basement; we are now ready to deal with the upper levels. I agree with your idea. We will continue progressing silently. Do you need help for the Great Hall?»

«No, they are so drunk they will wake up in a salt water bottle the size of an ocean!»

Sitar and his group climbed up to the ground level and found guards sleeping or readying for their shift. None ever had time to figure out what happened before finding they were on their way to Davey Jones' locker. The first, second and third floors were composed of cells containing from ten to twenty inmates. Most showed bruises, but they were in all in much better shape than those found in the basements. The Atlanteans and their allies quickly went to work and ported everyone to Thebes, as the night was progressing rapidly. Matins would be on them before they had finished.

In Thebes, the healers quickly treated small wounds bedded and them for rest, and put those needed more intensive treatment were moved into stasis chambers for processing. Overall, another eight thousand prisoners were released from the lockers and ported to Thebes' General Hospital.

***

Enron had quickly disposed of the drunkards that littered the great hall, and proceeded to the next objective, the tocsin. A single guard was near the rope that would be pulled to ring it, rope that quickly fell off from the bell's pulley, rendering the alarm ineffective. As it fell down, the guard found himself entangled in it before trying to swim in cold salty waters off the coast of America.

Then Enron and Uwibami began cleaning the battlements, disposing of each guard they met as they walked around the perimeter of the castle. By the time they had done the entire walk, Sitar and his task force were cleaning up the last level of the jail.

«Uwibami and I will finish with the drawbridge and the rest of the guards currently on duty. Do you think you can join us to dispose of the barracks? We will have disposed of a third of the forces when we are done, all without raising the alarm! However I doubt we can maintain that situation much longer. Someone is bound to notice that the guards finishing their shift have not begun filtering back in the barracks!»

«I'll be joining you personally Enron. The others can finish the porting without my assistance. It would only add a few minutes to the task.»

Enron and Uwibami disabled the drawbridge, preventing any assistance from the outside and any escape from the inside by melting the ratchet to the drum. Even a mace would not be able to release the ratchet from the mass of metal that now made the drum's outer mechanism.

"What if they cut the rope?" asked Uwibami.

"I have soldered the crossbars that reinforced the drawbridge against ramming. The reinforced wooden ties won't be movable any time soon! Let's go wait near the barracks for Sitar. If we see a guard or group of guards leave from the shade offered by the barracks' walls, we wait until they have walked off from their door to port them for a nice cold bath!"

As the boys walked down toward the barracks, they saw a first group emerge from the shade and walk across the open yard. They didn't hesitate and ported them to their final resting place. The boys stayed in the dark as they walked around the courtyard, and reached the first barracks as another group emerged. Again, luck was with the boys, since they spotted them before being seen themselves, with predictable results.

"We have been lucky so far, but that can't hold! Where is Sitar?"

"Right here Enron," whispered Sitar. "How many did you dispose of from the new shift?"

"About twenty. The shift is composed of two hundred and twenty soldiers and officers combined for the night shift, if the number of fish baits we dumped is an indication of their night's organization."

"Your idea is probably right; and we can count at least three times that number for day shift in eight hours. That makes for another eight hundred and sixty fish baits! That's a bit much to dispose silently. "

"Let's forget about silence!" as Ian materialized besides them. "We are running late and I want to go to bed! Port the entire barracks out over the ocean at twenty thousand feet and let them fall down. I doubt anyone of them will be fit to build a row boat from the planks!"

"No fancy footwork? You are cutting my fun!"

"Sitar, you can play footsie with your bonded after I get in bed!"

"As if you will not be doing the same with Typhoon!"

"Anyway, Sitar, Ian's right. Let's finish this cleanup. Port the pigsty, err, barracks, with all their contents over the Atlantic. It will be noisy, but the only ones that might be disturbed and not deserve it are the bed rats."

"Oh, the poor rodents! No rat will be ditched! They will have to find new homes but they won't be forced to swim ashore!" said a laughing Harp.

The sudden disappearance of the barracks made for a bang, as the port went without the usual air exchange procedure. Deep within the castle the sleeping guests were rattled awake, and began getting up, some more successfully than others, as they had less of the wine and liquors of the last evening's dinner, or were more tolerant of the effects of alcohol. Some woke up with a scathing headache, others puked their way to the nearest water basin, and some managed to knock everything not tightly screwed down on the floor, breaking pots, cutting bare feet and cussing up a storm in the process.

The palace staff was also awaken by the noise and scurried headless, in all directions, trying to figure out what the commotion was about. Dogs barked and howled, adding to the noise level, while the horses kicked and neighed to get out of their stalls, sending the doors of the stalls flying with powerful front kicks. The poor stable hands ran out of the area in fear, as they were faced with a sudden madness amongst the usually placid animals. The alpha stallion, once free, began a systematic destruction of the stalls, freeing his herd and then the donkeys that had been unable to break down the barriers.

Meanwhile, the dog pond was the scene of carnage. The dog handlers, which had not been very kind, were assailed by the two hundred or so hunting dogs, intent on getting even for their collective mistreatment. Dogs gnawed at the cage grids, tearing the wood and jumping on the handlers to chew them down. Harp had given a hand to the dogs as soon as he had located the pond by releasing the locks with magic, and the twenty men faced an army of teeth, snarls and growls that targeted their family jewels as if they were fine delicacies.

Ian had finally given a hand to the equines breaking down the last obstacle to their freedom, the barn doors, which went flying and smashed through a window high up in one of the towers, adding to the pandemonium.

"Let's demolish that castle stone by stone! Port it from top to bottom, brick by brick!" ordered Ian. "And no air exchange! I love the bangs!"

Everyone took to the task, which created a continuous roll of thunder shaking the castle to its base. The guests barely managed to stay ahead of the disintegrating tower, and reached the Grand Hall to find it empty of guards, the tables still showing the previous night's leftovers and the guards' contributions to the mess. Some of the guests had managed to grab a sword or a knife, but none wore much clothing. The sudden cracking noise of the cathedral ceiling of the Grand Hall had them run for the double doors leading to the inner courtyard, but, unfortunately for them, the said doors wouldn't budge: the walls had begun to twist, locking them in. The staff, having a more intimate knowledge of the castle, managed to find exits that were unknown to the nobles visiting the place.

Suddenly, the Grand Hall began cracking from everywhere, as Ian removed the keystone of the quadruple arch that supported the ceiling. Bricks and blocks of masonry fell on the floor below, as the nobles hollered in freight and pain, bones crushed, skulls splintered by bricks, as the giant arches fell majestically inward, spitting at the joints into numerous, deadly projectiles that rebounded and dented the floor tiles.

Meanwhile the prison underwent a similar treatment as first its roof vanished, followed by the successive floors, and then the underground cells were disintegrated. The rock base was itself scoured clean of any trace of its previous use, as the instruments of torture were torn out of it before being melted and thrown in the ocean to cover the guard cemetery, joining them in their descent to Hell, and sometimes catching up with them on their way down.

"I don't think dad would want to do anything with metal dirtied by such vile use," commented Ian.

The castle's demolition was nearing its end when the nobles' bodies began to appear; they took the same road as the guards.

"I doubt the fish will be able to taste the difference. Shit is shit, noble or not!" said Enron.

The next stage of work was porting the dogs and Equines to the royal army for treatment. The sudden silence brought about by the disappearance of the howling dogs and neighing horses was even more unnerving to the staff still enclosed within the walls of the fortress. Harp decided to hold a quick speech before disintegrating the walls.

"Ladies, gentlemen! We have come to free the Prince, a task done. We will shortly destroy the walls of this castle. Outside lies a town in turmoil, which has no idea of what happened in here. All they heard was the noise, and the darkness has masked the disappearance of the castle. You have three options: first, leave with us; second, be dispersed within the current kingdom of which you know, and risk being captured for interrogation by the king's henchmen; or stay here, and certainly be captured for interrogation by the city guards which are currently trying to bring down the drawbridge in an effort to assist their now deceased brethrens. You have thirty seconds to pick! After that we will begin destroying the walls of the fortress, and you will be in the crossfire! Choose, and choose well!"

Thirty seconds of stunned silence followed, and Harp ported all those that wanted to leave to Thebes. Only a few choose to be sent to towns and villages along the coast, in a vein hope to escape the spy network of the villainous king; three decided to go into town to rejoin their family, putting not only themselves but their loved ones in the line of fire from a vangeful soldiery.

"Stupidity runs in families," was Harp's cynical comment.

As soon as the last civilian was moved out, the walls were disintegrated, starting with the one on the high cliff and finishing with the drawbridge, that fell on the soldiers trying to bring it down, crushing a good forty-five in its fall.

"Let's get out of here while the dust is unsettled. The less they know of us the more mysterious this intervention will seem, the better!" said Ian, as they took off to the air in eagle form then converted to dragons and flew back to the rejoin Harold and Annabelle.

***

"Boys, before you go to bed, please examine the rescued prince. His health condition is not great. He has been deprived of food for a long time, and physically abused repeatedly. He is resting on a couch in the next room."

"Dad, if his condition is so bad, we should send him to Paschal for a stay in a stasis chamber. If nothing else, he will heal a lot faster than on his own. I will do my best to kick-start the process, but keep that in mind."

"Harp, I figured as much. Do for the best."

Harp, Ian, Enron and Sitar moved into the room while the others readied the nest for the rest of the night. Prime would come early! As they examined the emaciated body, Harp encircled the body in a green healing halo, and Paschal used Mitsuko's healing power to boost his brother's hard work. After fifteen minutes, the body was healed of its most blatant wounds, but the mind and extended privations were still there.

«Paschal? You have an incoming case. It's the prince. He shows severe signs of deprivation and seems to have suffered torture. We all know what this does to the mind of an individual.»

«Ok, send him over; the deprivation issue should be solved within a week, but for the mental effects of abuse, it will take longer. How much? I can't tell, but at least a month. We know a day in a stasis chamber is like a year in real life insofar as physical healing goes, so we can estimate the rate of therapy for mental illness to be at a similar rate. We will know when Francesca wakes up.»

«Oh! Damn, we have been busy, I forgot about her. How long has she been in there?»

«It's been six months! She must have had a lot of issues. Anyway, Harp, the chamber is ready. Port the prince.»

«Join us for the nest after setting him in place.»

«I plan to, I have no fascination at watching the dynamics of fluids in a canister while a body is being repaired.»

«Sitar, by royal decree, I declare this an all-out invasion of the eastern kingdom. Estimate the force required!» thundered Harold, pissed at the discovery of what had happened to his homeland.

Sitar zoned out and he came back with an astounding number. «We need one thousand two hundred and seventy four centuries, one thousand sixty-three of bipeds all species confounded, and two hundred eleven of quadrupeds, again all species confounded. I am giving out the call now, by your command, Legate!»

«Send the call, Montue, God of War of Atlantis!»

«Prince Yamato has received the call. By nightfall, one hundred and twenty seven legions will be ported behind our lines, in thirteen distinct armies, completing the diplomatic contingent, with proper number of specialists for the needs I foresaw within the final column. By tomorrow morning, we will be merged, Harold Thor Horus Pharaoh of Atlantis!"

The Decurions that had seen this declaration of war were shocked by the expeditionary force the man could muster in less then six hours. Some had doubts, but the formality of the exchange between Sitar and the man with that unending name was enough to make them think things out.

***

The next morning did come early as the bugle announcing the start of a new day rang an hour before sext, well ahead of any rooster's morning call would have resonated, had there been a living rooster in the area. The sudden cacophony woke up not only the Atlantean column, but also the leftover centurie of legionnaires and the forest animals for miles around as the sound propagated on the waters of the river. The legionnaires grumbled, as any self-respecting army would, but got up, folded their tents, prepared their packhorses and reported to the mess for food. There, grumbling stopped immediately: instead of the usual porridge and cheese cooked together which represented the usual fare of the legions, they found on their plates eggs, bacon, potatoes, beans, ham, sausage, pancakes, syrup, and, sitting in front, a big glass of fruit juice, a huge mug of hot coffee, and all the trimmings required to fix the drink to their taste, even fresh cream and, oh ultimate luxury, white sugar!

After eating their fill, the legionnaires proceeded to the armoury and received their old weapons, kits to maintain their uniform, new caligaes, and their old metal pectorals. The leather dress had been replaced with hew ones, as the master of arms had judged the leather of their old ones too rotten to be worthwhile. It's not that the master of arms did not consider giving them only the pectorals and the cotton undershirt, leaving them butt-bare, but he figured there were enough faeces to attract flies already without giving them a field day during the runs! He vowed to himself that these guys and gals would be taking a bath the moment they stopped for the day, and he signalled his intentions to the master of discipline: the new legionnaires showed beards of varying age and mal-maintenance. A mandatory shave and haircut would be imposed on the new recruits, along with a full flea and bug inspection. Their feelings would have to take second seat to the necessities of the Legions. This was the army, not a pension for acne-infested teens! There would be a lot of grinding teeth come evening!

An hour after prime, the army began its day run, still about three days from Riverside. The Royals met on the run, each one easily keeping up with the pace set by the Elves, except for the newly incorporated legionnaires, who were panting like forges on their last breath half an hour after the run began. Red faces showed how poorly trained they were, and some couldn't help but wonder why everyone else was finding the energy to sing, joke, and otherwise act as if this was a walk in the park. They saw Harp run by, back and forth, as he kept an eye on his unit of mages, and the others they had met giving orders to units on the run. The more they watched, the more they felt inadequate.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held right in plain sight of the newly incorporated legionnaires, but they were way too short of breath to really notice. Harold had called everyone to the meeting and began as soon as the last one joined.

"We came here with the intention of establishing diplomatic contact with the old, now deceased king. We are now involved in a succession feud. What are your recommendations?"

"Dad, we have enough men to wipe that usurper's ass. Yes, we could kill him, but there are probably tens if not hundreds waiting for the power vacuum to try and rise to the top. We need an occupation force."

"Sitar's right, dad. What we can do is port in additional troops. We can easily field another hundred centuries. I would go for twice that number, since we will have to occupy the land before porting those worthy back to Thebes."

"Paschal's suggestion of two hundred centuries seem fitting. Just look at those guys behind us! If I weren't propping them up constantly, they would be lying on the ground throwing out intestines and bowels. I've never seen such a collection of slugs."

"Harp, remember who commanded these men. I suspect the guy was presented with a poisoned gift: the worse unit in the army, which, I admit, would be the only fair thing I've heard about the new ruler!" replied Annabelle.

"Couldn't we just go back home?" suggested Samson.

"Inasmuch as this suggestion is tempting, dad, I do not think so. We have broken the wine barrel; we must drink it. That king will stop at nothing to get even with those that slighted him."

"But no one that was involved in keeping the prisoners survived!"

"Human politics is ugly, Timor. The fact that he cannot find a specific person or group of persons alive to dig his teeth in will make the man even more dangerous. He will blame everything and everyone, killing indiscriminately," Enron replied. "I may not be human, but I've seen what gives in Elves, and we were supposed to be more civilized!"

"Enron's right, Timor. We have no choice. We must not only get rid of the usurper, but also clean up the kingdom of all its cronies, as well as dispose of the crocodile priests. There is a temple in Riverside, and I'm sure there are more. I've not travelled much south of that city, but I'm sure Annabelle will be able to give us an overview of the geography, populace, and probable military situation."

"What will you do when you have brought the kingdom to its knees, dad?" wondered Paschal.

"Move everyone worthy of consideration to Thebes, and leave the rotten eggs behind. I'm sure well-planted rumours of duplicity, treason, and double-crossing will decimate the left-over to the point they will not be able to sustain a population."

"What about children? Surely, dad, you do not plan to abandon them to their fate!"

"Harp, it's there that you will come into play. As soon as a baby is born, he or she will be ported to one of the incubators of the General Hospital in Thebes. Your unit's task is to find any and all females that will be left behind and put a transfer port key in her uterus. Should she become pregnant, the port key will mark the child or children and once they are born, they get ported to the hospital. We may have a considerable amount of still-born, or defective births, but we will not leave any behind."

Everyone agreed to Harold's plans, and it was decided to add the additional centuries during the next night. Dunbar and the quintavirate were informed of the decision and spent the day getting the proper number of units assembled for their transfer at sundown, bringing the total number of legions to one hundred and twenty-nine.

***

The end of the day brought another shock to the legionnaires: everyone stripped nude and jumped in the cold, no, icy waters of the river to wash up from the day's grime. Then everyone washed their cotton undershirt, and hanged them over long poles to dry near a fire before setting the camp.

"Get your dirty carcasses nude! And jump in the water to wash up before I throw you in myself! Did you think the soap bar you got this morning was to perfume your uniform?" thundered the Sergeant-at-arms. As some balked at the cold water, they found themselves thrown mercilessly in the water. "Wash each other's back! No false modesty! This is the army! If you haven't seen a dick or cunt yet, it's time you do!"

As everyone gradually emerged from the cold water, most shivering and blue, another shock awaited the return to terra firma.

"Attention! Spread legs! Lift arms on the side! It's general flea and bug inspection! From now on pubic, armpit and head hair must not extend more then half an inch, and must be kept clean from any lice, flea, mites, or other undesirable companions of an army! Facial hair is prohibited! A legionnaire is glabrous, not a poor imitation of a wool carpet! You have received shaving blades and sharpening kits! Use them daily for the face; use them to keep your hair trimmed as well! No red faces shall be accepted! We know it is next to impossible to shave hair on your own, except in the face, so we expect you to pair up or to designate barbers!"

The inspection revealed a considerable number of infested men and women. The ultimate solution was to shave everyone from head to foot, while those that showed signs of sexually transmitted diseases were treated magically. Everyone walked back to the river where the army's barbers did quick work of all the hair, that flowed downriver while the lice tried to escape their fate by hanging for dear life onto the drifting hair locks. Once everyone had recovered their baby looks, minus sagging bellies and breasts, the Sergeant at Arms resumed his pep talk.

"Your packs have been destroyed and replaced. We have come to the conclusion that it was more efficient to send everything in the nearest volcano rather then try to eradicate the bugs. We also have replaced your weapons, and your uniforms. It is your responsibility to maintain them free of dents, rust or other defects. If you have a problem ask the Sergeant of Supplies how to solve them. Your tents also have been replaced. We noticed mites have eaten the felt inside out! It's pure luck you were able to put them up still without big holes appearing where the support poles held them! To help in maintaining the camp, you have been regrouped in four twenty-five men dorm tents with your surviving officers. We cannot put up with snobbish attitudes. Report to your tents to get your new kits! I want everyone shaved before prime and breakfast, every morning! You have twenty minutes to put on your night uniform, and report to the mess for supper, held at vespers! I will personally drown the first one that shows rust on his blades or on his pectoral! They shine like the sun, keep them that way!"

"The Sergeant at Arms has a voice that would make rocks walk!" commented Harp, as he watched the proceedings. "I almost wanted to shave!"

The evening meal took the legionnaires by surprise, being composed of a rich variety of vegetables, soups, meats, and fresh fruits. The rich dessert, an unheard of thing for them even for the highest officers, was composed of a choice of strawberry, blackberry, raspberry shortcake or a variety of cheesecakes that covered from chocolate to caramel, just out of the oven cookies and donuts, with a wide range of drinks from fresh milk to tea or coffee. It was only the realization that everyone else took this situation as normal that finally convinced they were not being led on.

The return to their new tents also brought further surprises: there were real bed sheets, warm wool bedcovers, hot coal pits, and a carpet over the tent floor! Each bed, a hammock, was hooked to a post that also had hooks for their clothes, and, beside their future resting place was a stand for their weapons, easily within reach should they need it during the night!

As everyone settled for the night, each tent received the visit of a healer. Everyone with sore feet received treatment and instructions into the art of preventing a recurrence of the issue with caligaes. Then the healer visited those with breathing problems and, with some magic, fixed broken noses, obstructed respiratory passages, allergies, atonal throat muscles, and sinusitis.

"You could have put to shame a thunderstorm last night! We had to put silencing spells around your tents for the others to sleep. Tonight, it won't be the case. You will find tomorrow that you will have slept like babies and be ready to take on the challenge of another day. Good night!" commented the healers as they exited the tents.

The accompanying supply officer took over.

"Tomorrow, you will begin to learn how to maintain your material. Each one of you will receive the assistance of a buddy to teach you the ropes. Tomorrow, you begin your first real training to become legionnaires. Let me give you a warning! The boys and girls that will be teaching you have been doing these things since they could walk! So listen to them, and do not ever underestimate their experience! They have seen more gore and dead then you ever have! While you learn the basic maintenance of your feet, sword and pilum, others will temporarily take over packaging your tent furniture, the dismantling of your tent, and the preparation of the packhorses. But read my lips: this is temporary. Eventually, you will have to put up your own tent, get it ready, and in the morning, dismount and pack everything within the allotted time. It is only by a perfectly timed ballet that this is possible. Lazy members will bring punishment to all! Is it clear?"

After a collective "Yes sir!" the officer left the tent to report.

The next morning, the legionnaires were again woken by the bugle well before they were ready, only to be met by boys and girls aged less then four with a set of tools to maintain their shoes. They were astounded at the amount of information the little ones told them about the need to keep the leather supple, how to do it, and why. They also learned the use of talc to keep their socks dry, how to double the socks to prevent rubbing, and how to treat sores.

Naturally, one bully per tent tried to intimidate his diminutive buddy, only to suddenly fly overhead in a classical judo move and land flat on his back with a very sharp knife at his bits. The message got across very rapidly that these children were not to be taken lightly. The children led their buddy to a table and began showing proper maintenance of the uniform, pointing out tiny dots of rust and explaining that each would double in size over the next twenty-four hours unless the process was halted by first removing the rotten metal and then putting a protective coating of oil. They also explained that rotting metal was a weak point that could be used by an enemy to gain access to their vitals. The use of the polishing cloth and the different grades of pumice was explained, as well as the art of applying the protective coating. After a few demonstrations, the legionnaires were left to clean up their uniform under the eagle eyes of their buddy that did not miss a single speck of rust. The children also explained why some areas showed more rust in a day then other sections in a month, and why it was important to maintain the interior as well as the exterior of the armour. Careful examination of joints and the reason to do so was also explained.

Then came the examination of the blades and other weapons of the legionnaires. The knife's protection and its strengths and weaknesses were carefully explained and demonstrated. Then the pilum was examined and where its weakness was clearly demonstrated as well. Finally came the short legionnaire sword, whose blade was examined, cleansed and polished, and, after that, the children explained the fine art of using a sharpening stone and oil to keep the blade's cut at its finest. Again, a demonstration of the proper use of a sword was done by one of the kids, as he or she sliced an egg in midair without spilling the yolk! The child then cleaned the sword and demonstrated how clean it was by dropping dust on it to show none stuck to the blade.

By then the camp already packed and ready to move, the children led their buddy to the mess, this time an open table as the weather had cleared overnight. An hour after prime, the day's run began and the children kept pushing their buddy to improve his or her stamina, while carrying their own weight in weapons and water, to the total amazement of the adults. By sext, the soldiers had gained a totally new respect for the force in which they were incorporated. If children could do what they were seeing and still enjoy the scenery and laugh, what could the adults do? All they heard was Harp can, or Ian can, or another name, which did not ring a bell anymore than Ian or Harp did, so can I! Some had a vague memory of the boy that had rid them of their corrupt Centurion, but none could put a name on the diminutive figure. They saw him walk, or more often, run, from one end of the column to the other, giving orders and getting instant obedience from seasoned soldiers that showed the marks of many campaigns.

A few of them noticed the sudden increase in size of the army overnight, but they figured a column had caught up with them, which left them perplexed given how fast the one they were in was moving already.

By vespers, the army was half a day from Riverside, and the Royals decided to give their troops a rest while preparing the strategy. The children began explaining how to unpack things in the proper order, and how to set up the tents effectively with a minimum of mishaps. Ground preparation was explained, and how to drive the stakes into different types of grounds, or even how to set a tent up on a rocky terrain. The extensive knowledge again took the legionnaires by surprise, as each point was clearly demonstrated and explained. Then, when the tent was up, and the furniture moved, the children explained the importance of proper care of the packhorses, what to look for, how to check for bridle sores, and how to maintain the different attachments. Then everyone jumped into the cold water to wash up, clean the linen, and get ready for the evening.

As an Elf walked and explained to the children that the next day would be weapon training before an early night and a night run, the children exploded with joy. "Finally some fun exercises!" was all the legionnaires could hear, which baffled them totally. After supervising the bedtime rituals of their respective buddies, the children retreated to their own tents for the night.

***

During the day that was just finishing, the Royals had discussed strategy. No one wanted to lay siege to Riverside, which was on an island. After numerous discussions, it was decided to advance on the city under the cover of the night, to hide in the forest, and to then charge across the bridge with the cavalry when the doors were open for business. Apparently, the ritual of waiting for a clear view of the shores still held, but the river's banks had been left to overgrowth. This suited the advancing army perfectly, as trees and thick bushes provided sufficient cover for horsemen to hide into.

In order to help in keeping the doors open, Harp and a group of mages would be dropped inside the city under cover of darkness, and would proceed to take position near the northern door's locking mechanism. The goal was to disable the mechanical device that raised the drawbridge and closed the doors, thus preventing its closure in opportune times.

Right behind the horsemen would be a column of Centaurs and wolves, whose goal was to set a solid foothold in the city before the defences had time to organise. Then the legionnaires would take the city by blunt force, backed by the elves and dwarfs, while the Fairies would offer air cover from the Dragons and Pegasuses, and the Unicorns would port anywhere and everywhere to destabilize any semblance of order in the opposition. As soon as the battle was fully engaged, Harp would lead a unit of Mages against the Crocodile Priests' Temple, while Sitar would lead another unit against the ducal palace, followed in close quarters by Harold using his Shield and Hammer.

Enron was tasked with bringing to submission the different trade orders, while Paschal dealt with taking control of the fortifications. Ian stayed back with an important group of dragons and the Trolls, ready to assist anyone who met more resistance then expected. Annabelle was to take the second legion and run in behind the first assault force with an objective to put out any resistance that the first assault might have had to bypass in order to achieve its primary objectives. Thorsten would deal with the left flank, and the combined equine and wolf forces would deal with scurrying out hidden threats, while the right flank would be in the care of the dwarfs riding on wolves.

***

The next morning shocked the new legionnaires right to their core. After supervising their morning rituals, the children embarked in an elaborate military training that involved riding horses bareback, using bows, arrows and pilum with deadly accuracy, while riding at breakneck speed and jumping obstacles and making their mounts do what even the most seasoned soldier thought was impossible moves. Then they saw the children face off the Legions, no holds barred, with a simple rule: who draws first blood wins. It became apparent to them neither party held back and that the children were giving the older soldiers a run for their money!

Then the wolves carrying dwarfs and running a charge just about brought their bowels to the dumping stage. Axes were used in all sorts of combinations while the legions fought tooth and nail not to lose a single inch of ground. The rigor of the phalanxes' movements brought whistles of admiration and tears of envy. The sudden appearance of the elves and their archers against the legions only led to a tighter grouping, clearly demonstrating that even arrows could do nothing against interlocked shields.

The morning came to an end, and after sext, those that had been scraped where healed, weapons readied, battle plans exposed and the need for stealth explained to all. Harold took the time to explain things to the legionnaires.

"As for our new recruits, we will keep you behind our lines. You stand no chance and we want to minimise undue loss. However, my knowledge of Riverside is dated, and I would appreciate any fresh information about the situation you might be able to supply, including whether the Priests still roam the city, who commands, and what is the morale of the troops. I am waiting for your officers in my tent within twenty minutes. I need this information to minimise loss on the opposing side. We have shown to you they stand no chance to really do damage to the Atlantean units. We may lose one or two men, but that is highly improbable. We have won battles against orc armies numbering in the millions and lost less than ten centuries in these battles. If you have loved ones, people you care for in Riverside, think of them, and help us protect them from the fury of the upcoming assault; if, on the other hand, you know of certain unsavoury characters likely to take as many innocents with them in their upcoming demise, tell us also. We will target these individuals. The more we know, the better."