Chapter 33 - So It Begins
"Ready?" Granddad shouted.
All of the warriors were standing at the ready right behind the gate in anticipation of what was to come. We were about to open the gate.
Jack, a sword and shield warrior, was in charge of lifting the brace while the rest of us held the line. There was so much weight against the gate that as soon as that brace was up, it would fail. It would be moments before the tide crashed through.
Jack was the only one with the skill Extended Blade and he was chosen to lift the brace. He could use the skill to extend his blade and lever the brace out of place from a farther distance away than the rest of us.
I saw as he nervously got closer and closer to the gate and his sword started shaking in his hand. It was understandable. The gate seemed like it would break at any minute now and he would be trampled.
Without us bracing against it, there was more give in the system and it was violently rocking back and forth with loud knocking sounds coming from it. It sounded like giants were pounding at the door.
He had the easy part. It's Austin and I who had the hard part. The gate was only 6 feet wide and if we stood in the gateway we would surely be knocked over. We planned to stand a few feet back and hack and slash at anything that came through.
We both knew the consequences of failure. We also both knew the likelihood of something going wrong.
Jack activated his skill and I saw his blade start to glow before extending past the tip of the metal. At first, he tried to slice through the brace to open it that way, but his phantom blade barely left a scratch.
One had to remember that every part of the wall had hidden enchantments on it that increased its durability past normal wood. Jack wasn't strong enough to cut through the brace with his level of strength. The enchantments were probably the only reason that the wolves hadn't gotten through already.
After failing to slice through it, he switched tactics and placed his blade under the brace and made to lift it out of the brackets holding it steady. He failed the first few times but got the hang of it.
He had to time it when there wasn't pressure on the brace pinning it in place. He slowly worked the brace upward out of its fasteners and we all watched with growing nerves as it got closer to coming loose.