Silent Siege – Old Short Story

I thought this week that I would post one of my old snippets. This story was written when I was probably around fifteen. I didn’t intend for it to be much of anything, just an exercise at vivid prose, perhaps. It’s a bit awkward, but it’s not much. As a very short piece, I think you may enjoy it.

Silent Siege

The wind shrieked like some unearthly demon, ripping invisible fingers across the trembling forest. The very trees seemed to shrink back from the unseen menace. Then, like the mist stealing across the ground, they came. There was no sound. It was as if they were simply an imagined apparition, an ethereal foe,  in the frightened imagination of a child. but this was a living nightmare. They were coming, an unstoppable force, gathering.

Then, still without a sound, they reached the walls. Muffled grappling hooks whistled through the air. They could barely be heard through the storm, but the small sound of the hooks catching the walls and holding on as if they were alive seemed like a death knoll. A few brave men rushed forward to the parapet, and cut at the ropes, but it was to no avail; the first six feet of the rope were chain. The men pulled back from the wall.

The voice of the captain, difficult to hear above the storm, commanded them to nock arrows. As one man, they did. Every one of them was tense as wire suspending a boulder, and the slightest touch would set them off. Then, from the heavens, a bolt of lightning streaked to the ground, bright as the sun. Men involuntarily released their arrows. They leapt as if stung from the bows, and descended into the mass of ill-defined shapes. Not a single sound.

Then the apparitions reached the top. The soldiers who hadn’t shot fired. Moving with nearly inhuman speed, the attackers dropped down inside the walls. They were coming now, unstoppable. They were too many.  The defenders whipped out their mêlée weapons and retreated, fighting like cornered animals. A few of the attackers fell. Without a sound.

The defenders were down the stairs. The attackers sprang nimbly down the stairs, slashing with their strange weapons as they came. They landed in a crouch and began stalking the brave defenders. Stalking like a tiger hunting a deer. Confident. Assured. Calm. Calculating. All he must do is spring at the correct moment and the the plan  is infallible. Without warning, the attackers shrieked. All of them. The startled defenders  drew back. Then the wraiths attacked. Without a sound. The soldiers defended themselves halfheartedly.

Then the Captain shouted. “ Come on, men, defend yourselves! They are mortal beings, as you are! Do not be afraid! WE  SHALL CONQUER! Defend yourselves! Think of your wives, your children, your country! CHARGE!!!”

With this he threw himself into the fight. The defenders cheered and attacked. They were still out-numbered, but they had hope. The surprised attackers were stunned for  a moment. They were losing. They had more warriors totally, but their enemies had more here where they were needed.  And their enemies had never fought like this before. Previously, they had shrunk back in terror, fighting as though they were already dead.

Slowly, the defenders gained ground. Foot by foot, step by step, the besieged defeated the besiegers. The rain had stopped, the clouds began to scatter, and Dawn broke upon the city, bringing light to the beleaguered. At that moment, a horn sounded to the North. Ringing through valley and hill the sound of the horn brought with it an ally.  They charged into the valley where the breached city lay.

The Attackers began to flee as the huge beasts and their riders from the alliance thundered in. The Foe had been vanquished, the city was saved, and most important, their families were safe. And the triumphant army cheered.

The End