Dansel and Vina were finished moments later. They joined Tanner and Lul in positioning the heavy table behind the door.

​

As this task was completed, Vina whispered to the older girl: “We’re going to die in here, aren’t we?”

​

Though Dansel felt certain this was true, she denied her belief. “No. Tygis has a plan.”

​

“Well,” Tanner grumbled, “I wish he’d tell us about it. We could have been outside, running...”

​

Tygis was back in the room. He had arrived silently, like some great cat.

​

“If we run, they’ll follow until they have us,” Tygis said. “They’ll only stop if they’re certain we’re dead.”

​

“So?” Tanner responded.

​

“We can escape when they think we’re all dead.”

​

The stout trader shook his head. “Only problem is, they’ll be bloody right. We’re like rats in a barrel.”

​

Tygis actually smiled. “That’s the whole point of this cabin. From outside you see one way in, one way out. No hope of escape. I built it with the possibility of a Callis invasion in mind.” He strode towards the open cupboard he had cleared earlier and gestured inwards...

​

The back panel of the cupboard had been a door to an empty, square chamber about four feet wide. There was an open hatchway in the dirt floor and a ladder leading down into darkness.

​

Nidel stared in amazement at Tygis. “You have a secret tunnel in your cabin... Who the Hel are you, Tygis?”

​

The old man shrugged. “Don’t you know? I’m the village idiot. Old, dumb Tygis. Someone everyone can laugh at.”

​

“Seriously,” Dansel said. “Who are you? What are you really?”

​

“If we live long enough, I might tell you.” He returned to the matter at hand. “You and the other girl, get our supplies down there. It’s about fifteen feet down and the tunnel is fairly spacious. I’ve lit a lantern and put it near the bottom of the ladder. Once you’re down there, drag everything to the end of the tunnel. When you get out, stay put and stay silent.”

​

Dansel almost asked him where the passageway led, then realised she didn’t care – away from here was good enough.

​

“The rest of us,” Tygis continued, “our job is to keep them attacking this cabin. To draw them in. We’ll slip away as they break through...”

​

“And light the oil,” Nidel added.

​

“Exactly. When the barrels go up, they’ll blow this cabin and everything around it to burning splinters...”

​

Lul grinned like a child. “And they’ll think we’re dead too.”

​

“Like the plan?” Tygis proffered.

​

“I love it.”

​

“When the attack starts, make plenty of noise. We’re the bait.”

 

*     *     *

 

They knew it wouldn’t be long now.

​

The insane swoop-swoop symphony was at a crescendo – it seemed to reverberate inside their very minds. Dansel and Vina were safely down the ladder with the food sacks and were somewhere in the tunnel. Tygis had told them that lanterns were set at intervals along the tunnel’s right-hand wall; the girls were to light these as they went.

​

Stepping over to his wooden chair, Tygis gave its seat an almighty stamping kick. The construction disintegrated and he quickly gathered up pieces from the wreckage. Nidel, Tanner and Lul were each given a chair-leg club.

​

“Beat at the shutters and door when they start trying to smash their way in.”

​

The other long lengths of chair were stabbed into the blazing hearth. These would form torches with which to ignite the spilled oil. Tygis moved to the fourth cupboard in the room: this one had a locked chain around the handles. He fished out a key that was hung on a thong around his neck, then started to unlock the storage unit.

​

Nidel, Tanner and Lul waited, nervous and motionless. Their heads throbbed with the resonating noise outside – part of each man wanted the attack to begin so the damned swooping would finally end...

​

Tanner kept looking back in the direction of the tunnel-hatch. He wanted to flee more than he wanted to breathe. Lul and Nidel were a little more composed; they had faith in Tygis and knew their risk was ensuring the safety of the two girls.

​

The siege began suddenly – as if hundreds of great hammers had all started swinging at the building. At once, the door and shutters shook under massive multiple blows. Support bars vibrated in their braces and bent fractionally under the impacts. The table jarred away from the door – Lul and Nidel shoved it back hard.

​

No longer were they suffering a discordant symphony – now it seemed to be the frenzied beating of crazed blacksmiths, using this cabin as an anvil.

​

Cold sweat ran down their faces. They were so close to death and destruction, the three men could taste it. Tanner’s glances towards the escape-route grew more frequent. He took a half-pace in that direction before forcing himself to stop.

​

The entire building was shaking with the attack. Above the hearth, the cooking pot swung on its hook, creaking softly. A danth-skin decorating one wall dropped from its place like a falling flag. A tankard on the washstand vibrated over the edge and hit the floor. The shuddering went through the villagers’ feet and up their bodies. Nidel had the horrible feeling that he was going to wet himself with fear again – he clenched his club harder in both hands.

​

Their eyesight roamed from one barrier to another, seeking evidence of weakness. One of the metal braces was starting to come loose. The table had danced away from the door... But the fortifications held for now.

Then, in a heartbeat, the attack changed. Instead of being the blunt ends of implements, it was the sharp spikes of blades which struck. The blows sounded different – a sinking thunk as wood was pierced, then a splintering wrench when the weapon was ripped away. There was just as much force in every strike, yet each tore at the wood.

​

The barriers would be slowly shredded apart.

​

“Oh no, oh no, oh no...” Nidel mumbled to himself.

​

Tanner made another automatic step towards the hatch – he might have made a third, but his brother burst into action.

​

Lul snarled, spat a curse and wielded his club against the left-hand window-shutter. The abrupt thud of his attack broke the frigid fear that was devouring the will of his two companions.

​

Nidel summoned up his meagre courage and struck the door so hard his hands stung.

​

“Get out of here, you accursed vermin!” he cried.

​

Even Tanner moved – his club hitting the other shutter.

​

“You fucking murdering bastards!” he roared. “Come on! We’re not afraid of you!”

​

And club-strikes added a strange percussion to the biting, splintering sounds of assault.

​

Lul called over his shoulder, almost comically: “Tygis... Have we drawn them in long enough yet? Because I’d really like to leave right now...”

​

There was no reply and Lul started to glance back – just as the shutter in front of him exploded away from the window.

​