David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation T.C. Crawford (icecream ebook reader txt) 📖

promise of a better life – something they never would have had otherwise.

To those who weren’t fortunate enough to end up in the Guild, the city had little to offer but a meager life under constant threat from the wolves. Their wages were taxed heavily, leaving them with very little reward from their own labor. Those who tried to pack up and leave were never heard from again – the Guild made sure of that. Everyone knew that leaving was suicide, so no one dared attempt it.

Brineport wasn’t always this way. It was once a sprawling metropolis, the center of commerce in the ancient world of men, but that was before the end of the war and before the Wolf Guard had arrived.

Brineport was a city located on the great Southern River that flows from the Draconian mountains down to the South Sea, providing the area with lush vegetation in an otherwise dry, desert climate. It also provided access to an abundance of fish in the South Sea and a means of traveling quickly from the most Southern parts of the kingdom to the most Northern parts by way of sailboat. It was how the Guild moved so quickly throughout the kingdom and how they kept control of the population – as only the Guild members were allowed to travel by boat, just another means of control over the less fortunate.

Jakob and the northern Guild members quickly gathered their gear and prepared the ships to set sail up the river towards the old mining community of Ashmire.

When he reached the ships, he made his way to the Captain’s cabin where he set down his pack before greeting the rest of his crew who had been waiting on deck, keeping watch to make sure no one tried any funny business while they were in port.

The city was not only filled with worthless slaves, but it also was sprawling with thieves, and Jakob never took any chances when it came to his things – he knew better than that.

Once they were all on board and the dock lines had all been released and stowed away, the Captain gave the order for the fleet to set sail and they began their voyage upstream.

With the wind rushing through his hair, Jakob finally allowed himself to relax for the first time since they docked. He knew his luck had run out with his brother’s failure to capture the travelers the first time. That failure had cost his brother his life, but fortunately he had been spared due to his position of favor with Bloodvayne.

This time he would not return empty handed, for he knew that if he did, it would be the end of his wretched life.

Chapter X

The alarm bells rang throughout the cold, cloudless night, as the soldiers of Ravenfell scrambled to finalize their preparations on the frontline fortifications.

With the demon army amassing in the Great Plains far below, they knew it would only be a matter of a few days at best before the enemy was at their gates. It would be their duty to fend them off for as long as they could, and they knew they were going to be in for the fight of their lives.

“How are the preparations coming along, Captain?” asked General Ryan.

“The walls have been built and reinforced, General. We have prepared the boulders at the top of the walls and doubled the archers on patrol. We will be ready when they come, sir!” replied the young Captain – a man from Eldergate who had fought with General Ryan and Erin during the battle to take back the city and stop General Krauss.

“And what of the men, how do they fare?” asked the General, concerned of their morale as the demon army grew ever nearer.

“They are well, General. My men know what they are facing and are prepared to give their lives for the protection of their families.” said the Captain proudly.

“Good. See to it that the men are rotated so they get enough rest in between shifts. Once the battle begins, we will need all the strength we can muster, and there won’t be any time for breaks I’m afraid.” said General Ryan.

“Yes sir!” said the Captain.

“And Captain,” said the General.

“Sir?” asked the Captain, turning back to his General.

“Make sure you get some rest, too. You can’t lead your men if you’re too tired to think straight.” said General Ryan, concern etched across his face.

“Yes, Sir! I will sir!” said the Captain, clapping his fist to his chest before returning to his duties.

General Ryan had been overseeing the defensive fortifications for the past few days while they were being built. He knew that the walls would be their first line of defense and made sure there would be no gaps in their lines that could be exploited by the enemy.

So far, they had completed the front gate and walls which were several feet thick and nearly twice as tall. They were built from the same hard stone of the mountain and put together skillfully by the local builders in the valley. It had taken them nearly half of the time Ryan had expected, which was a tribute to their superb skill and expertise in their field.

Once the outer wall was completed, they had begun construction of several similar walls that served as additional barriers in the event the first would fail.

All together, they would have a total of three major fortifications for the enemy to overcome before they reached the mountain pass. Each wall would be topped with mounted ballista’s and catapults, and hundreds of archers and soldiers, ready to rain down volley after volley of arrows and rock from above.

Behind the fortifications would be the bulk of their army, ready for the moment when the integrity of the walls would fall, and the demon army would break through. The natural canyon between the two rock faces would serve as a funnel, preventing the whole force from attacking at once, and improving