Honor Crowned by Michael G. Southwick Read Free Book Online Page A

on that,” one of Jorem’s men, Elson, interjected.  “And if he’s up to it, Con would be a good choice.”
    “I’ll be ready,” Con growled.
    Jorem smiled at the comment.  Two hours sleep hadn’t helped the scout’s appearance.  “When it comes to devious ideas, no one’s better than Con.  Choose five more men and head out as soon as you can.  I’ll need you back here as soon as possible.  Oh, and keep an eye out for Hector.  If he’s still alive, he’ll be headed this way soon.”
    Jorem watched as Conrad levered himself out of his chair and staggered out of the room.  Jake, Elson and five others followed him out the door.  With Con along, Jorem felt better about their chances of being successful.  He had seen the creatures so he would have a better idea of what might stop them.
    “That will have to do for long-range work,” Jorem said as he shuffled through the maps. 
    Finding the next map he wanted, he pulled it from the pile.  The map was too large for the table, so with a little help from Neth, he pinned it to the wall.  It was an older map of the area around the Keep.  It didn’t show any of the smaller buildings in the courtyard, nor the shacks Jorem had had his men take down.
    The clearing to the north of the Keep was well-defined, as were the borders of the chasms to the south, east, and west.  From what Jorem had seen, little had been done in recent years to clear more land.  What had been cleared was still open and used for crops. The map showed a small building at the very edge of the clearing and, as Jorem recalled, it was still there.
    Once again Jorem started drawing lines, this time three parallel lines starting about four wagon lengths from the tree line and ranging from the chasm on the east to the chasm on the west.  Each of the three lines was about a wagon’s length apart from the others.  He then drew three more lines four wagon lengths from the first three, and another three after those.  Three sets of three.  Something about the symmetry of the design felt right.
    From the Keep-side of the clearing, Jorem moved in about six wagon lengths from the outer wall of the Keep and drew a single bold line parallel to the other nine and spanning the entire breadth of the clearing. Between the bold line and the closest set of three, he drew random dots and dashes.
    “Where these lines are,” Jorem said, pointing to the nine lines spanning the far side of the clearing, “I want trenches.  As deep as we can, as fast as we can.  Here, closer to the Keep, I want an even deeper trench sloped so we can see the bottom of the trench from the top of the wall.
    “The outer trenches will be filled with spikes and covered with light branches and a thin layer of dirt.  The inner trench will be left open, but it too will be filled with spikes.  It’s a lot of work and it will take all of us to accomplish it.  Those who can’t dig can make spikes, gather branches or carry water to those who need a drink.  Every task is important.  If we’re to have any chance at all, we need to get this done.”
    The silence in the room told Jorem that few of those gathered here truly understood what he was asking of them.   These were good people, accustomed to the peace they had enjoyed for most, if not all, of their lives.  The horror of what was coming was beyond their ability to comprehend.  He had read of battles that had included the use of strange creatures to awe and overwhelm the opposition.  There were ways to defeat them he knew but as he had come to find out from the few battles he had been in, reading of them and experiencing them were vastly different.
    “We start at first light.”  Jorem’s voice broke into the silence.  “Between now and then,” he continued as he walked back to the map laden table, “we need to gather every weapon, shovel, bucket, and handcart we can find.”
    “Ha!” blurted a man gray with age and barely able to stand.  “What we need is a