A Warning To Chailon

A Warning To Chailon 

“I just wish I could see their arrows before I die,” Sai murmured to Rhogan, The fog was very heavy and no one could not see more than five yards ahead of their nose, anything else being dark shadows. Sai and Rhogan stood at the front of the raiding party, struggling to see the Fortress of Chailon, with its tall spires and sinister battlements. Sai was wondering how he would get a raiding party of fifty or so peasants, armed with pitchforks, knives, and sticks anywhere near the menacing structure without being seen. Rhogan, however, was thinking about how fun it would be to fight to the death, at least one more time. Rhogan was a tall, burly half-giant with countless battle scars, very little clothing, a missing tongue and a thirst for blood. Sai, on the other hand, was a tall, handsome elf, about seventy years old –young for an elf– double scimitars, a bad attitude and countless knives, along with the added power of his deadly skill in archery.

As the Raiding party peered over the crest of the hill, the fog began to clear. A flurry of arrows whizzed past, killing several peasants. They fell with a cry. Rhogan, cherishing his remaining ability to yell, shouted a battle cry and sprinted toward the gates. The peasants ran after them, and Sai sighed and ran behind them. Rhogan struggled to bash the portcullis open, but after a few tries, settled for wrenching it open and letting the peasants in. Sai, far behind the group, didn’t make it in time, and the portcullis closed. He turned and began to climb the guard tower. He took out a length of rope, fashioned it to an arrow, then shot it up into the tower. A guard appeared over the edge of the tower, and threw the arrow down. 

Rhogan and the rest of the raiding party, meanwhile, were fighting the guards in the courtyard. The peasants battled with the guards. Rhogan thought it made a lovely collection of noises. Clashing of steel, cries of terror, shouts of triumph, the whiz of arrows. Arrows. Rhogan thought. Those kill people. He looked around and saw that only two peasants remained. Two peasants and a half-giant versus a hundred or so guards. 

“Fool” Sai muttered. “He could have just waited for me to get high enough for it to hurt.” He shot another arrow, this time aiming for the guard, now easily visible. He heard a muffled “Gah!” from the top of the tower, then a loud crash. Sai shot the roped arrow back up and climbed into the tower. He saw what the crash was. Four small barrels of black powder were knocked over when the guard died. His corpse lay over them. Sai moved the guard off of them and glanced at the courtyard.

Rhogan grabbed two guards and smashed their helmets together. The peasants had already vanished into the crowd of guards. Rhogan whirled and punched a guard into another, knocking over five at once. He grabbed a sheath, still on it’s belt and threw the guard it was attached to far over the crowd. He turned to block a stab with his shield and noticed out of the corner of his eye, an arrow headed straight at his chest. Everything slowed down. He saw fire starting to spread on the roof of the blacksmith. He turned to look at the arrow, but saw its course was changed. An explosion spread across the courtyard, knocking everyone down. Sai slid down to a soft landing in the courtyard on a length of rope. He found Rhogan and pulled him upright. The two walked out of the castle, finding their job complete.