any plans to stick around for more than a couple days. But, if they do, I understand the touch of a Unicorn’s horn will purify water. I imagine the Unicorn God can purify quite a bit of water.”
Kehet knew that what the man said was true. He didn’t remember learning it, but he somehow just knew. Kehet nodded, agreeing. “I could purify a few leagues of river. Defilement is not a threat to us.”
“Do we know how many Vulak are coming?” The long-haired general asked. “Maybe we should send some soldiers outside the city and take the Vulak down as they arrive.”
“How big is the Abvi Army?” Bryan asked.
“I’ll let Malithe answer that as well,” The king said, nodding to the long-haired general.
Malithe Nodded, “I am the senior ranking general in the city. There are two hundred and fifty thousand Abvi in the city and a few thousand others. Of those, one in ten is part of the militia reserve. We don’t have more than a handful of regular army here. Most of our forces are in border keeps and patrols.”
“And they didn’t report this invasion coming?” Bryan asked.
“We got two reports of Vulak movement,” Malithe said. “We sent reinforcements to those posts. We haven’t heard anything from the other posts along Vulak territories. That’s not unusual to go a season or two without communication, but seeing the size of these forces, it’s not a good sign.”
The king spun the view on the table and sped through the countryside to view a stone tower. Nothing seemed out of place, but nothing moved. Kehet couldn’t see anyone in the view.
“There should be two dozen soldiers at that post. At most, ten would be in the tower, out of sight. There should be three manning the parapet.” General Wun said.
“I know that post well,” Shera said. 'The Vulak would have come through a pass three hundred paces north.'Let’s see the pass, if you would, Your Majesty.
Before the scene reached the pass, Kehet could see the fate of the Abvi was not good. Several bodies, both Abvi and Vulak littered the ground around the opening of the pass.
“The Vulak are in a hurry,” Shera said. “They don’t leave their dead to rot in the sun, but though I see three Vulak dead for every Abvi body, it looks like the Vulak won the fight.”
“Why do you say that?” Pantros asked.
“The Abvi have had their ears removed,” Shera said, he voice seething and low with sadness. “Vulak take ears as trophies. Some of them survived to claim the ears.”
“Let’s see,” The King said. He scrolled the scene, following a trail left by the Vulak. It took him several minutes, but when he stopped, everyone in the room gasped. Thousands of Vulak marched in a column toward Melnith.
“I don’t think meeting them outside the gates is a good idea,” Bryan said. “I think we need to prepare the walls, get arrows up there along with anyone who can pull a bow. How many trebuchets are in the city?”
“Why would we have siege engines in a city?” Wun asked.
“They’re particularly handy for throwing oil soaked bales of hay at the enemy,” Bryan said. “Or pitch, or even rocks.”
“Barbaric,” Malithe said.
Marc stepped forward and said, “I too would prefer a toe-to-toe fight. When it comes down to win or lose in battle, it’s one thing to fight honorably and die honorably for yourself. When you’re fighting for the lives of everyone in the city, is it really the honorable path to fight only with your own honor in mind? There will always be lines of honor and morality that no soldier should cross, but having trebuchets aimed at enemy soldiers is not of those.”
“I’m beginning to question how the Abvi all but wiped out the human race so many thousands of years ago,” Bryan asked. “It’s looking more and more like they just waited for us to die of old age.”
“That’s exactly how we did it,” Malithe said. “We like to summarize that we won the war, but it took us ninety years. We won because we sterilized the humans by poisoning every water supply on the continent. When the war ended it took a couple hundred years before the Abvi could even breed again, but a couple hundred years isn’t even as a decade would be to a human.”
“And you call me barbaric,” Bryan said. “I don’t suggest that method in the coming fight. I’d like to live to see us win and though I may be young for a General, I doubt I have ninety years left in me.”
“The trebuchet’s sound like a good idea,” Malithe said. “I’ll send someone to fetch some Matderi engineers.”
“We do have magic,” Wun said. “We have at least a hundred students at the Sorcery School and a dozen instructors. They should be able to throw lightning around.”
“The Vulak might have sorcerers too,” Shera said. “Magic is rarer among Vulak than Abvi, but it is not non- existent.”
“I know some magic users that might be able to help as well,” Kehet said.
“Water mages are useless in combat,” Shera said. “And Tempests are notorious for not taking sides until there is a clear definition of good and evil among the combatants. They will side with the force for good, but that doesn’t mean they will decide the Abvi are less evil than the Vulak.”
“I’m not talking Earth or Water magic,” Kehet said. “I speak of the banned arts. I speak of the Wizards.”
“There are no Wizards,” The King said. “The trait was wiped from every living creature on the planet during the purge. If a Wizard is born, they are drowned. Fire magic is too chaotic, too dangerous.”
“I’ll agree it’s pretty damned dangerous,” Kehet said, “But if it did exist, that dangerous energy can be aimed at our enemies. If we want Wizards on our side, the laws would have to be changed to not doom them to death simply because they are who they are.”
“No,” Malithe said. “I had a nephew born as a Wizard. When he was two, he threw a temper tantrum and exploded, killing himself and his father and burning my sister so badly that it took two talented healers a season to return her physically to normal. Emotionally, she is scarred for a very long life.”
“If they weren’t hunted, Wizards could have tempered your nephew’s power until they could teach him to calm himself,” Kehet said. “I’ve met a few and they are good people, just like any of us.”
“By my decree, the ban on wizardry is lifted,” King Allaind said. “But, any acts of wizardry that result in unwarranted damage may be tried as crimes.”
“There are Unicorn Wizards?” Sheillene asked. “I always believed that Unicorns were unable to wield magic beyond the blessings of their horn.”
“No, the Unicorns cannot be Wizards,” Kehet said. “And this is knowledge I’ve gained in person, not just some of my godly omniscience, which I don’t seem to have very much of.”
“Then we have a plan,” King Allaind said. “Generals, organize the militias. Sheillene, you are in command of the archers. Adria, you are her second. Pantros, your companions can stay in the guesthouse, but you’re staying downstairs. I’ll send a messenger to the Sorcerer’s school and Kehet, if you would be so kind as to coordinate with your Wizard friends.”
“I’ll need to make a stop at the Hunter’s Lodge,” Sheillene said. “I have to pass on word that Wizards are no longer automatic bounties and, in fact, not bounties at all. It will be a rather big change to us. Our guild was founded in the days of the purge. Our first purpose was to hunt the Wizards. I’m a bit surprised there could be any alive with every hunter always looking for them.”
“Magic tends to breed true,” Shera said, “the element sometimes changes, but anyone with a magically talented parent has a more than fair chance to wield magic themselves. My mother was a Mage. I too have magic, but until today, that was not something I could tell anyone. I’ll accompany Kehet to the Wizard’s School. He may be a god, but they’ll be more likely to trust me.”
“There’s a school?” Sheillene asked. “In Melnith? Where?”
“I think we’ll keep some secrets for today,” Shera said.
CHAPTER 26: PANTROS
The bright azure of the sky with a few fluffy white clouds seemed out of place above the amassed armies of Vulak standing outside the Melnith walls. Pantros stood atop a palace tower with Thomas and the bard’s sister,
