101 - Strike Back
The palace was doing marginally better than the city walls, Emerald Edge thought as she looked down from a balcony. It was smaller, for one thing. That meant it was easier to defend than the entire city, a fact that Sombra had capitalized on by lining the higher windows and balconies with archers. Along the walls, there were arrow slits carved into the ramparts, allowing more archers to fire upon the enemy with a lower chance of being shot back at. The walls surely had more defenses set up here compared to the city walls. There were boiling pots of water along the wall’s openings above the gates. It had been five days since Morn’s forces breached the city walls and so far, they had yet to push to the palace walls, though should Morn’s men arrive to breach the gates, they would be in for a hot surprise.
“Of course, none of this means anything unless we can kill the commander of this horde,” Prince Sombra had said. “Without anyone giving the orders, this army will be thrown into disarray, making it easier to drive them out.”
“Assuming Morn isn’t giving the orders from afar,” Posey had pointed out.
“Even if he is, slaying the enemy commander will embolden our troops,” Sombra and Emerald had agreed. “If there is anything left inside Morn’s mind controlled soldiers, they will at least be demoralized.”
“I think Sir Lionheart leads this army.” Emerald recounted hearing his voice when they were protecting the gates. She served with him for more than five years. She knew his voice well. “He carries the Shield. It would not be advisable to battle him head on, for the Shield makes him impregnable to most attacks.”
“But not to an assassination,” Nightfall Gleam had said. “If you can strike Lionheart down without him knowing you are there, you could claim the Shield for yourself.”
And so it was decided that Emerald would sneak around the back of the army, and attempt to behead the invading force. She had been so caught up with making sure everything was fine in the last few days that they hadn’t even had the time to plan an attack until now. Thankfully, most of the citizens had made it here without harm, and they were now holed up within the palace, waiting for the end of the siege.
Which put them in their current position. Morn’s army stood beyond the palace, waiting. Saddle Arabian archer forces and the occasional outburst of magic kept them wary, but it wasn’t enough to scare them off. Light Speckle and Nightfall Gleam would duck out from behind cover and throw a bottle or vial, then dive back into cover before any arrows could hit them. Emerald looked at the mages and her brow furrowed. Moon Tide was still nowhere to be found, and the former pegasus hoped she was good at taking care of herself.
Emerald’s mind was still reeling from the fact that she was a changeling. It had all come upon her so suddenly, that this woman she’d known for so long wasn’t human. She hoped she was doing better than last she saw her.
Posey, in the meantime, was helping Rashid to tell the troops about weak points in Canterlotian armor, so that when the enemy was within bowshot, they would be able to fell more of them. Emerald got to meet Sombra’s other general in the last few days, General Hassan, the leader of the palace defenses. He was a shorter man with dark skin and a long beard, with a hood over his head, which kept his face mostly in the shadows.
“The palace walls are much tougher to crack than the city walls, I guarantee,” the general said. “They will not get past us with ease. We will give you as much time as you need.”
“We will first need to determine where the leader is encamped.” Posey surveyed the city, where some fires were raging from the earlier catapult attacks. “We will need to search for clues. Morn’s men will not tell us, even if we try to force it out of their mouths.”
“Or,” Spectrum said, coming away from Sombra’s mounted spyglass. “We could just look for the glow.”
The squire pointed out towards the city, where in the dying light, there was a corona of golden light shining from the far end of the city.
Emerald swooped onto the spyglass and peered at the section of city that Spectrum had pointed out. There was indeed a glow of golden light that matched an artifact’s signature shine.
“This could be our chance,” Posey commented. “Once night falls, we will make it our priority to take down Sir Lionheart.”
“We?” Emerald said with a wry smile.
“Of course, Emerald. I’m going with you,” Posey said, her face determined. “Two people have a better chance of success than one.”
“You have a point,” Emerald admitted. “But I don’t want you to get hurt again. We don’t have the Apple here to heal our injuries any longer.”
Posey pulled on her bowstring, which was slung over her back. “Tis a risk we have to take should we want to be victorious.”
“That is right,” General Hassan’s head bobbed. “No sacrifice, no victory. Should the army try to attack, our defenses are ready. We will make life hard for them as much as possible.”
“Then we should first get as close as possible and survey their campsite,” Emerald briefed, her inner spymaster coming back. It had been quite some time since she had to sneak around. “I want to know what we are dealing with. Patrol routes, guard positions, weapons, alarm bells, anything they have.”
She wanted to know the shifts, when the best time was to strike. Morn’s men did not seem to need sleep, but surely they would still leave openings like any living thing would. There was always a best time to strike and she wanted to find out when that was before trying anything.
After a brief bit of discussion, it was decided that Posey would send Gabriel up ahead to scout out the enemy’s territory. The golden eagle shrank into a speck in the distance as he flew off to do some recon work.
“While we wait for Gabriel to return, we should prepare for a strike deep into enemy territory,” Posey advised.
“Will you need disguises?” Hassan asked. “There is a great deal of value in dressing as the enemy.”
“I do not think disguises will work on this army this time,” Emerald said ruefully. “”They do not recognize uniform any more, only the presence of Morn in their heads.”
Posey nodded in agreement. “Then we will have to use the rooftops to reach the other end of the army, then take down the leader.”
The royal palace of Masyaf was still under siege. Morn Dread’s army was making little to no progress trying to breach the fortress, but they were persistent if anything. Arrows and sling stones and other projeciles shot back and forth like leaves in a storm in autumn.
“That’s it, men!” General Rashid barked as he narrowly dodged a crossbow bolt. “Make them pay for every inch that they take! Our king is counting on us!”
With the advantage of defensive walls and arrow slits, Morn’s men were more wary about getting closer and with the archer Posey’s information on Canterlotian armor weak points, he found he and his archers were faring slightly better against the invading force. Slightly.
“How fare your men, General Rashid?” General Hassan approached him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Keeping them at bay, I hope? The palace guard is ready, should they try to breach us.”
“It is not going as well as it should,” Rashid reported. “These Canterlotians fight through injuries that would cripple any other soldier. They feel no pain, need no sleep, and fear nothing. It is as if we were fighting the golems of old. More than a few of our men have lost their nerve at the sight of them.”
Hassan’s face grew solemn as he considered this. “We must not let the soldiers lose heart. That is the one thing that separates us from these mindless puppet invaders.”
“Does King Sombra have a plan for us?” Rashid asked. “As skilled as our troops are, they will eventually run out of arrows and other supplies. Not to mention that food and water is also an issue. We were not properly prepared for a siege like this.”
Hassan nodded in agreement. “Should we survive this, I will make sure to suggest changes to the military to the king. We cannot afford to be caught unawares like this again.”
“Save the plans for the future for when after we push these foreign dogs out of the city,” Rashid advised. “First, we must do our duty for the kingdom.” Then the general hurried off to speak with another general.
Hassan’s face was grim as he ordered his archers to fire another volley. He had gone over the stocks of arrows earlier and he knew that they only had enough shafts to last maybe a day and a half more of this. After that, their bows would be next to useless. Normally they would be able to scavenge arrows that were shot at them and missed, but the Canterlotians were using some strange wrist-mounted contraptions that used shorter bolts than what their Saddle Arabian bows would be able to nock. On the bright side, the invaders wouldn’t be able to use the Saddle Arabian arrows either.
Overall, things were not looking good at all.
“I can’t take much more of this.”
Emerald uttered these words as she paced around the inner chambers of the palace with Posey, Jewel Pin, and the Apple family.
Apple Bean looked at her husband, who shrugged back. It was still a few more hours until dusk, and they all knew that was when Emerald and Posey would set out to strike down the commanders of Morn’s army, if not Morn himself. Emerald was clearly on edge, having done nothing but walk around the room since Sombra had told them to rest in here.
Posey was keeping herself busy by checking the fletchings on her arrows and oiling her bow in preparation of the assault. Emerald had been encouraged to do the same with her hidden blades, as mechanisms like hers could easily malfunction due to sand being caught in the moving parts. The former pegasus had indeed cleaned and oiled her hidden blades, but it did little to keep her nerves calm.
“Emerald,” Jewel Pin said tentatively. “Why don’t you come and have some water? You must have worked up a thirst, walking around like that.” The seamstress held out a goblet of cool water for the spymaster.
Emerald almost said no, but her dry throat stopped the words in her mouth. Instead she sighed and accepted the water from Jewel Pin, drinking it down swiftly.
“Thank you, Jewel Pin,” Emerald said, putting the empty chalice down on the table. She almost went back to pacing, but there was a screech from the window and Gabriel swooped indoors to land on Posey’s shoulder.
The archer fed the eagle a piece of dried meat before listening to the report.
“Good news, Emerald,” Posey relayed. “It seems that Morn Dread is not leading this army. At least, not in person. According to Gabriel’s spying, there is not one, but two people in charge and giving orders. As we know, Sir Lionheart is here with the Shield. But here to back him up is Sir Gallophad, who Gabriel says is not armed with an artifact. That is some good news, is it not?”
Emerald clenched her fist. “Two targets…” she said quietly. “That changes things a bit.”
“Indeed it does,” Posey nodded jerkily. “We shall have to catch them both by surprise. Not an easy task with two sets of eyes instead of one to look out for.”
“If they see us coming and use the Shield, it’s over.” Emerald ran a hand through her already rumpled sparkling hair and went to the window to look out. Both armies were still engaging in combat, and it was difficult to tell from here who was winning. Emerald tried to focus her sight like Posey had told her to, but still nothing came.
Not good enough, Emerald. She scolded herself. If I can’t master this special vision that Posey has, how can I call myself an effective leader?
Emerald blinked. She had not often thought of herself as a leader, but the more that she thought about it, the more it became apparent that she was at least a person with a great amount of influence over her growing group of friends. And with that thought came a knot of tension in her guts. She had brought them all here. She couldn’t afford to lead them astray.
“We really don’t have a choice,” Posey sighed. “But whatever your call, I’ll follow you.”
“You can do it, Emerald,” Apple Bean smiled. “We’ll help hold down the fort here while you go deal with Lionheart and Gallophad. Hay, you two’re probably the only ones who can go toe to toe with them knights.”
“Sun’s setting.” Posey stood up and slung her bow over one shoulder. True to the archer’s word, twilight was approaching. “We should go now.”
Using the new free-running skills that she had practiced with Posey, Emerald and the archer climbed down the walls of the palace and onto the rooftop of a nearby house. In the dying light, they managed to make it down unseen. The sounds of battle echoed up to them, but they couldn’t stop to watch the combatants.
Emerald and Posey stayed low, hopping and sprinting from rooftop to rooftop, making sure not to fall into the streets below.
Emerald looked up ahead as she and Posey ducked behind a roof garden to avoid the gaze of a knight who was passing by on horseback below. There was that selfsame golden glow ahead, near the gates. Lionheart and presumably Gallophad were close by. They would have to move with stealth and precision if their mission was to be a success.
Finally, after a little more sneaking and skulking, Posey signaled for Emerald to be quiet as she peeked over the top of the house they were hiding on.
Below them were a small contingent of enemy soldiers, most of them on foot. The only two who were mounted were…
“It’s them,” Emerald whispered, squinting her eyes at the two Knights of the Round Table below. Strapped to Lionheart’s arm was the Shield of Equestria. It was glowing brightly, casting deep shadows all around them.
Posey peered at the two knights. They were watching the battle at the palace unfold, though how they could see from such a great distance was anybody’s guess.
“We should approach them from behind,” Posey whispered to Emerald. “They’re at an advantage while on horseback.”
Emerald nodded back and they climbed down on the other side of the building, then crept back around to the front, taking cover behind a pile of barrels and peeping out through a gap.
“We will only get one go at this…” Emerald said grimly. She unfurled both hidden blades. “Remember, their armor is less thick around the neck, but they may be wearing mail, so strike hard.”
The former pegasus tried not to think of the time that she had shared with Gallophad and Lionheart as Knights of the Round Table. They had been brothers and sister in arms, under a united kingdom. Now the kingdom was at war with everyone, and those who had once been just and gallant were now the enemy, unable to break free from Morn’s control. Slaying them was the only way to make sure that what had happened to them could never happen to anyone else again, the only way to save Masyaf from destruction. She steeled herself and motioned to Posey.
Gallophad and Lionheart’s backs were to them. With a flex of her legs, Emerald leapt and launched herself onto the knights, hidden blades ready to kill.
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I just realized something Ironic. The knight named Lionheart is leading the invading force of the king, in his crusade against kings, in the middle east of this world.
King Richard, the king of England who led the crusades and is often famous as the good guy king in Robin Hood stories and brother to Prince John, was nicknamed the Lionheart.
The more you know
I also just realized. Gabriel is the only one with an actual human name. The bird, with an IRL human name. And it also has religious roots, meaning "God is my strength". And named for the archangel. Or popularized by him.
I just pray Morn's possession needs a living host. And that he can't possess a corpse.
Golems are Jewish. Not Islamic. I mean, assuming the people of Saddle Arabia are Islamic.
And I know it isn't one-to-one, but is the ruling royal family name Saddle? Seeing as Saudi Arabia is named for the House of Saud.
chilling
Oh boy, hope she succeeds.