A Quest of Heroes (Book #1 in the Sorcerer's Ring)

sounded. Thor looked over and saw the rest of the Legion gathering
together, beside a huge stone wall in the middle of the field. Ropes were
draped across it, spaced every ten feet. The wall must have been thirty feet
tall, and piled at its base were stacks of hay.
    “What
are you waiting for?” Kolk screamed. “MOVE!”
    The
Silver appeared all around them, screaming, and before Thor knew it he and all
the others jumped from their benches and ran across the field to the wall.
    Soon
they were all gathered there, standing before the ropes. There was an excited
buzz in the air as all the Legion members stood together. Thor was ecstatic to
finally be included with the others, and he found himself gravitating to Reece,
who stood with another friend of his. O’Connor joined them.
    “You
will find in battle that most towns are fortified,” Kolk boomed out, looking
over the faces of the boys. “Breaching fortifications is the work of a soldier.
In a typical siege, ropes and grappling hooks are used, much like the ones we
have thrown over this wall, and climbing a wall is one of the most dangerous
things you will encounter in battle. In few cases will you be more exposed,
more vulnerable. The enemy will pour molten lead on you. They will shoot down
arrows. Drop rocks. You don’t climb a wall until the moment is perfect. And
when you do, you must climb for your life—or else risk death.”
    Kolk
took a deep breath, then screamed out: “BEGIN!”
    All
around him the boys broke into action, each charging for a rope. Thor sprinted
for a free one and was about to take it when an older boy reached it first,
bumping him out of the way. Thor scrambled and grabbed the closest one he could
find, a thick, knotted twine. Thor’s heart pounded as he began to scramble his
way up the wall.
    The
day had turned misty, and Thor’s feet slipped on the stone. Still, he made good
time and couldn’t help but notice he was faster than many of the others, nearly
taking the lead as he scrambled his way up. He was, for the first time today,
starting to feel good, starting to feel a sense of pride.
    Suddenly,
something hard slammed into his shoulder. He looked up and saw members of The
Silver at the top of the wall, throwing down small rocks, sticks, all manner of
debris. The boy on the rope beside Thor reached up with one hand to block his
face and lost his grip and fell backwards, down to the ground. He fell a good
twenty feet, and landed in the pile of hay below.
    Thor
was losing his grip, too, but somehow managed to hang on. A club hailed down
and struck Thor hard on the back, but he continued to climb. He was making good
time and was starting to think he might even be the first one to the top, when
suddenly, he felt a hard kick in the ribs. He couldn’t even understand where it
came from, until he looked over and saw one of the boys beside him, swinging
sideways. Before Thor could react, the boy kicked him again.
    Thor
lost his grip this time and found himself hurling backwards, through the air,
flailing. He landed on his back in the hay, shocked but unhurt.
    Thor
scrambled to his hands and knees, catching his breath, and looked about: all
around him, boys were dropping like flies from the ropes, landing in the hay,
kicked or shoved by each other—or if not, then kicked off by members of The
Silver up top. Those who weren’t had their ropes cut, so they went came
crashing down, too. Not a single member reached the top.
    “On
your feet!” yelled Kolk. Thor jumped up, as did the others.
    “SWORDS!”
    The
boys ran as one to a huge rack of wooden swords. Thor joined them and grabbed
one, shocked at how heavy it was. It weighed twice as much as any weapon he had
lifted. He could barely hold it.
    “Heavy
swords, begin!” came a shout.
    Thor
looked up and saw that huge oaf, Elden, the one who had first attacked him when
he met the Legion. Thor remembered him too well: his face was still hurting
from the bruises he had given him. He was bearing down on him, sword held high,
a look of fury on his face.
    Thor
raised his sword at the last moment and managed to block Elden’s blow, but the
sword was so heavy, he was barely able to hold it back. Elden, bigger and
stronger, reached around and kicked Thor hard in the ribs.
    Thor
dropped to his knees in pain. Elden swung around again to crack him in the
face, but Thor managed to reached up and block the blow with a moment to spare.
But Elden was too quick and strong; he swung around and