BXBX NOVEL Chapter 270 Breach
It wasn’t long before he started passing the strange buildings which were planted around the base of the castle. As he ran past, he peered into them, glimpsing what seemed to be the familiar green fluids filling small basins.
However, there was no time to investigate, as the knight’s had noticed his presence here. A patrol of three knights had caught sight of him and his band of skeletons. Two were in pursuit, sprinting towards Jay, but the third had disappeared to find backup.
Jay didn’t send the skeletons back to deal with the pursuers, as he didn’t know what lay deeper within the castle. An army of eighty knights had left, followed by about twenty more to investigate the broken flesh-roots. But he didn’t think the enemy was foolish enough to send every single one of its troops out.
The grand castle seemed to tower over him as he drew nearer. Jay looked up as he ran under the giant iron gate, noticing it was much more rusted than the knight’s armor could ever hope to be, covered in a thick, red layer.
Through the darkness of the castle gate was an inner courtyard. Various passageways led deeper into the castle, but Jay had to ignore them for now, as there was no time to investigate.
(Hold them off here.) Jay commanded the skeletons, and each of them lined up just behind the giant gate.
Two towers made up each side of the gatehouse, each of them having stone archways for entries. As Jay’s eyes locked onto them, he sent Red in first, as he wasn’t sure if the knights could see in the darkness.
The spiral stairway twisted right as it ascended upwards into the tower, yet the sounds of fighting were already echoing from the skeletons below.
[230 Exp]
The two knights which had chased them had died, but the sounds of swords clashing had drawn out more enemies from the depths of the castle.
Jay decided not to pull out his luminous orb, as he would reach the gatehouse soon, and if there were any windows or openings, then it would become like a beacon in the night, drawing all knights far and wide.
Red’s bone footsteps clinked as they scurried up the stone steps, its armor resembling the sounds of the knights. There were no sounds of fighting above and Jay reassured himself.
Jay’s eyes adjusted to the darkness as he climbed to the top of the stairs. Faint shafts of light came in through arrow slits in the gatehouse\'s wall, helping him to see the vague outline of the gate mechanism.
Large rusted chains connected to a drum winch held the gate up; a circular drum with large wooden pegs. Jay looked around for a way to drop the gate, but in the darkened room, nothing stood out.
“Dammit. Come on…”
He searched around the room, but that was when Red came over and touched his shoulder, beckoning him to one of the arrow slits.
Jay shot towards the wall, peering below the castle.
“Fuck.”
A large group of knights was charging forwards, much more than his remaining skeletons could handle. The skeletons were already fighting enemies running out of the castle, so if enemies were on their backs, their fight would end soon.
“Dammit.” Jay pursed his lips.
Turning around, he pulled out his luminous orb. Its glowing light didn’t matter anymore, as all the knights knew he was here.
The gate room had a few different hatches in the floor, designed for guards to drop large rocks onto enemies below. Among large boxes of rocks were cauldrons, filled with oil which was boiled and poured down the hatches during an attack - however it was cold right now.
The gate mechanism revealed itself under the light. Two latches on either side had to be pulled to release the gate and let it drop.
“Red. The latch.” Jay pointed. His words were level but urgent, hiding the stress he felt.
Red grabbed the latch and glanced at Jay.
“Three, two, one.”
*Grr - Crack*
The latches pulled back at the same time as the gate’s chains rattled - however after a grinding sound, nothing happened.
Below the gate, it was too late. The additional force of the knights crashed into the skeletons, and one of them died.
[Your skeleton has been slain.]
Jay peered into the enclosure and saw that his fear had come true. The rust of the gate caused it to jam on its guide rails as it fell.
“Shit. Think…”
Jay looked through the room for anything to help him, and his eyes landed on the defensive weapons.
“Red, help me with the cauldron.” Jay said, running behind a cauldron and pushing.
The giant cauldrons were heavier than they seemed, and it slowly moved, grinding across the floor - yet with Red it was possible to flip it to its side.
Red and Jay rolled it over towards the gate enclosure and, without hesitation, pushed it down.
*Boom! - Grr*
The cauldron landed with a heavy boom, shaking the gate as it ground down further, but it just wasn’t enough.
The skeletons below wouldn’t last much longer. If they fell, the large swarm of knights would push through the gate. It would be a matter of time before they found and killed Jay.
For now, it locked the skeletons in a triangle formation. Having copied the tactics of the knight they had slain in the forest, they braced themselves and covered each others backs, but the damage was still mounting.
The gate needed to fall before the skeletons did.
Red had already rushed over to the next cauldron and gazed at its master, waiting for him to come over and help it push, however Jay stood there.
Looking down into the gate enclosure, and seeing his loyal skeletons still fighting below, he smiled. At this moment, they filled him with such pride; they were fighting for him.
Red banged its shield against the cauldron, trying to get Jay’s attention, but Jay stood there, shaking his head with a smile.
Something had appeared in Jay’s hand - a pale, fluid-filled crystal.
“Seems like I’ll need to use one of these. I always thought I’d be throwing it at a monster.”
***Sorry for no chapters these last few days, I have been very sick.