"Abandon Hethnost?" said Sevaisan.

"You yourself just admitted we have no defensible position with that cloud above us. Marandra gave her life to defeat it, but she failed. We have no other recourse. If we don't flee, the Havalqa will kill or capture all of us."

Sevaisan opened his mouth to protest, but Kirin raised his hand. "If you respect what Marandra has done, you'll obey me now as Archmage. We'll fall back to the cliff and make our escape while the Sunrise Guard holds them back. Lord Commander, use as few of your men as necessary to form the rearguard. I doubt they will survive."

"Yes, Archmage."

Soldiers began to relay the order along the wall-walk to abandon the Hammdras and retreat to the base of the Part.i.tion Rock.

Hollin was kneeling by Marandra's body, still clutching her hand. Gerin grasped his shoulders. "Hollin, it's time," he said. "She made her choice, her sacrifice. For us. We have to honor that now."

Hollin kissed Marandra, ran his fingers along her cheek. Then he stood and wiped his eyes with the heels of his palms.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," said Gerin as they made their way to the stairs.

"It's worth a great deal, Gerin. Thank you."

Horns began to sound through Hethnost, calling the signal to fall back to the Kalabrendis Dhosa. Servants and wizards alike were dashing toward the rear of the fortress as the Sunrise Guard moved into position to defend the retreat. Demons still swooped over their heads, though their numbers had been depleted during the defense of the Hammdras.

Gerin saw Nyene among the Sunrise Guard, this time wielding a sword with great efficiency against her enemies.

"The woman's got talent with a weapon," said Balandrick.

"We should get her out of there," said Hollin. He halted and started to turn, but Gerin grabbed his arm and dragged him along.

"She's made her choice to fight," he said. "As Marandra did. Nyene's ways are different, but that doesn't mean her choices are any less valid. Leave her be."

"But she'll die..."

Gerin continued on. Hollin grunted and followed.

"She may, or she may fall back when she needs to. She's a smart woman, and as Balan said, a gifted fighter. But it's her choice to make, not ours."

40.

Ezqedir surveyed the scene along the fortress wall and for the first time since arriving in this accursed place felt that victory was within his grasp. He knew that there was a price yet to pay in many, many lives of Herolen before their task was done. The wizards still had their magic, and while one wizard still lived, who knew what unseen dangers awaited his men?

The Herolen swarmed through the western half of the wall. Those attacking the eastern side were having difficulty reaching the wall itself-apparently the wizards had erected invisible barriers to impede their progress. But as Ezqedir watched, those barriers vanished as the defenders abandoned the wall and retreated.

His Herolen raised the first ladders. A few archers remained to hara.s.s his men with their arrows, but there were far too few to stop his soldiers from quickly reaching the battlements. Swords flashed, but the defenders were easily overrun.

"You finally breached the wall," said Tolsadri.

Ezqedir, focused on the battle through his seeing-gla.s.s, had not taken note of the Voice's approach. The fat oaf Enbrahel was with him.

"Of course you needed the Loh'shree to pave the way for you," said Tolsadri.

"I used the proper tools for the task at hand," said Ezqedir without looking at him. "I will commend the Exalted for her wise decision to send the Loh'shree with this army-a decision you objected to, I understand."

"Yet my Loremasters were slain by your incompetence," snapped Tolsadri. "Their deaths were needless, and solely your responsibility."

"Really, Tolsadri. Are you prepared to make such an argument in the Court of Kalmanyikul?" Ezqedir laughed, a rich, throaty sound. "By the Powers, I almost hope you do. You'll only expedite your own ruin, and for many it will not come soon enough. I for one cannot wait to see how far you'll sink before someone ends your miserable existence, since you don't have the courage to do so yourself. Your opinion of yourself, were it a natural resource that we could harness for the purpose of war, would be entirely without limits. A pity it cannot be used so."

He wondered if Tolsadri would take his bait. He doubted it. The Voice, for all his bl.u.s.ter and errors of late, was no fool, and had already diminished himself by uncharacteristically speaking in anger in his presence. Ezqedir did not think he would do so again. But I must always hope. It is an amusing and rare thing to watch as one so high slowly destroys himself. With a little a.s.sistance from me, of course. His fall and ultimate ruin will be a thing of beauty to behold.

"Honored Voice!" said Enbrahel in shock, obviously unaccustomed to having his superior spoken to in such a manner. "Will you-"

"Silence, Enbrahel." Tolsadri's tone was deadly. Ezqedir thought he could almost hear the sound of Enbrahel's teeth clacking together as he snapped his jaws closed.

No, he did not rise to the bait. A pity. "At least your servants are well-trained in obedience," said the general.

"Do not bother me with you inanities," said Tolsadri. "How will you contain any wizards you capture?"

"Since you and your remaining Loremasters have devised no means of containing their powers, we have no soul stealers among this army, and both the Loh'shree and the mursaaba have told me they do not believe they can hold a wizard captive, I've ordered my men to kill them all. They are to attempt to capture servants or members of the soldiering cla.s.s, but even then they're to proceed with caution. Who knows if a wizard will disguise himself as a stable hand or archer to avoid death? What mischief could one cause if brought as a prisoner among us? He might even be able to kill you if you are unsuspecting."

His men were scaling the eastern part of the wall unchallenged at this point. All of the defenders had either been killed or had fallen back.

"You cannot kill them all!" protested Tolsadri. "We need some of them to tell us about the Words of Making!"

"Do you have a solution for me, Voice of the Exalted? Will you volunteer yourself or your Loremasters to oversee the interrogation of any wizards we capture? Will your followers guard them and ensure they don't escape or use their powers against us? Can you bind their magic? Answer me that, Tolsadri, and we'll see about a change of orders."

"If they all die and we cannot determine how to use the Words of Making-"

"That is the reason you and your brethren are along, Tolsadri. Once all the wizards are dead and the circlet is in our hands, it will be your task to determine how it functions."

"And what if the Loh'shree have destroyed the Words in their wanton destruction of the fortress?"

"That has always been a calculated risk. We knew before we set sail that whoever held the Words would not surrender them without a fight. There was a risk that whoever held the Words would destroy them outright rather than allow them to fall into our hands, and there is obviously the risk that they would be destroyed or damaged in any battle to take them. The Loh'shree were commanded to halt their pummeling once my Herolen breached the walls."

Ezqedir knew he was taking a risk by tweaking the nose of the Voice to such a degree, but he could not stop himself. Victory was almost his. Tolsadri's contributions to date had been nothing. Less than nothing. If he did not want to be remembered solely as an impediment on this campaign, he would have to step forward to avoid a complete personal disaster. Understanding how the Words of Making functioned seemed the only choice left to him.

He again felt a trace of unease about the use of the Loh'shree. The possibility that they would inadvertently destroy the Words of Making themselves had been another reason for holding them in reserve. But what choice did he have? The wizards' powers had all but made it impossible for him to conduct a proper siege. He would have gladly waited months to secure the fortress, starving them out or attempting to infect them with disease, but those options were taken from him by their infernal powers.

"Do we know what the circlet looks like?" asked Enbrahel.

"Do not speak again, Enbrahel!" said Tolsadri.

"I thought that's what your vaunted Mysteries were for?" said Ezqedir. "My Herolen will gather every circlet and headband we find, but the Words themselves are a matter of power, and such things fall to the followers of Bariq. How you will recognize it is not for me to say."

"The Mysteries are not for you or any other to know," said Tolsadri. "Not that one such as you could comprehend the sublime beauty of the power Bariq has bestowed to us."

"And I have no interest in them, I a.s.sure you. But if you cannot identify the Words, or discern with your 'sublime' power how to use them, then what use are you? Truly, why have you burdened yourself with this journey if you have nothing to contribute to this cause?"

"Gerin Atreyano, at least, should be taken alive."

"But if you cannot use your Mysteries to control captured wizards, surely you see my dilemma? They must all be killed, otherwise there will be chaos within our ranks. Besides, if you make them Havalqa, as by our laws you must, would they not be made followers of Bariq? Their magic is strong, Tolsadri. Would you want such creatures to learn the Mysteries as well? Though perhaps it might be a good thing to provide your caste with an infusion of fresh blood. Who knows? Perhaps one of them could rise far within the Jade Temple."

"Your taunts are wearisome, Ezqedir. I'll warn you again not to kill them all, at your own peril."

"And I will say to you once more that unless you provide a means of containing their magic, they are too dangerous to take as prisoners. My orders have already been given, and will not be rescinded unless you provide a compelling reason."

Meloqthes approached and spoke quietly. "General, there is something in the sky to the southwest."

Ezqedir turned and saw at once the dark blot on the sky. He aimed his seeing-gla.s.s at the blot, which resolved into several dozen winged lizards flying toward them at great speed.

"The Loh'shree don't know what they are, but they fear them," said Meloqthes.

It was never good news to hear that the Loh'shree feared something. What new problem was this accursed land about to throw at him? "Have the Nureen Regiment set their archers along that rise," said Ezqedir. Were these things allies of the wizards? "Can the Loh'shree do anything to attack these beasts?"

Meloqthes shook his head. "Since the wizards were able to damage their power, it's taking all of their strength to maintain the cloud over the fortress."

Ezqedir turned to Tolsadri. "Well, Voice? Can your Mysteries help us?"

"That depends on the method of their attack, a.s.suming they are hostile to us."

"Who in this wretched land is not hostile to us? Is not the negotiation with those who do not know the light of the Powers within your purview? No matter. I doubt these creatures are ones to parley. Watch them, Voice, and do what you can."

41.

There was chaos throughout Hethnost. The cloud was now stationary above the gra.s.sy triangle that lay between the Archmage's manor house, the bathhouse, and a squat storage tower; mercifully, it had not released its destructive light in several minutes.

Is it dead? Gerin wondered as he ran toward the dormitory where he'd left Elaysen. Was the Archmage able to mortally wound it? Is that nothing but a corpse floating above us? He hoped that was the case but could not shake a nagging feeling of dread that the slowly rotating ma.s.s was merely waiting, or perhaps pausing to regain its strength before commencing with the killing blow.

People were running all around them: servants, soldiers of the Sunrise Guard, wizards, even a few Havalqa who'd managed to penetrate this far into Hethnost. Gerin killed three enemy soldiers with death spells who were chasing down a group of serving women.

"I'll meet you at the women's dormitory," he said. "I need to get the Scepter of the King from my rooms."

"I'm coming with you, Your Majesty," said Balandrick. "Being as your protection is my sworn duty and all."

Gerin didn't have time to argue. "That's fine, but keep up." He dashed off into the growing gloom seeping through the fortress.

His rooms were not far. He dashed up the stairs, into his apartments, and was retrieving the case that contained the scepter when Balandrick huffed his way into the room.

"No fair," he said. "I can't run that fast."

"I told you to keep up."

They reached Hollin and the others just as soldiers of the Sunrise Guard approached them. Nyene was with the soldiers, her face and clothes splattered with blood, though none of it seemed to be her own.

"I'm glad you're alive," said Balandrick.

"The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are coming through everywhere," she said as she wiped a drip of blood from her eyebrow. "I'm not such a fool as to want to die just yet, Captain."

"What in the G.o.ds' names is that?" said a soldier, pointing toward the southwestern sky.

Gerin looked where he was pointing and saw what appeared to be a flock of birds heading toward them.

But they were far too large to be birds. He created a Fa.r.s.eeing and felt his skin go cold the instant he understood what they were.

"Dragons," he said.

"What?" said Balan. "How can that be?" He moved to get a better view through the Fa.r.s.eeing. "Those same things we saw in the visions from the Watchtowers?"

"Apparently."

"But I thought they were all destroyed in the Last Battle of the Doomwar? They're supposed to be extinct!"

"Those creatures look very much alive to me," said Nyene. "And they are moving very fast."

"We need to get Elaysen," said Gerin. With a wave of his hand, the Fa.r.s.eeing vanished. He set off once more for the women's dormitory.

"Do you have a way to fight them?" asked Nyene.

"Not if the stories about them are true. They're resistant to our powers."

"Are these things allies of the Havalqa?"

"I don't know where they came from." Deep in his heart, Gerin feared Nyene was right. Who else could have brought them here? Dragons had been gone from Osseria for thousands and thousands of years. Now they suddenly reappeared at the location of an Havalqa army? It stretched credulity to believe the Havalqa were not in some way responsible. Yet another weapon for them to use against us, he thought bitterly. As if that b.l.o.o.d.y d.a.m.ned cloud of theirs wasn't enough.

They found Elaysen and Peylo Ossren on the path outside the dormitory, heading toward the Part.i.tion Rock. Elaysen seemed to have regained some of her composure. The serving woman was leaning on Elaysen's arm, cowering in fear over the ruinous events occurring around them. Her fear had apparently brought out some of Elaysen's natural abilities as both leader and comforter. Maybe that's what she needs to help her, Gerin thought. To be engaged in a meaningful way. He would have to consider how best to make that happen until they could get her the medicines she needed.

When Elaysen saw Gerin, she threw her arms around his neck. "I knew you'd come for me," she said, her face pressed against his throat.

He pulled her away from him. "We need to hurry."

"Why are you wearing that?" She gestured to the Ammon Ekril.

"The Archmage died defending Hethnost," he said. "Kirin is Archmage now, but Marandra wanted me to have this. I'll explain more later. Right now we need to move."

Before he could say anything else they heard a distant roar and saw a sudden brightening of the sky. Everyone turned to see two of the dragons belching long gouts of liquid fire toward something on the ground outside of Hethnost.

"Are those...dragons?" asked Elaysen.