although that situation might not come about in an instant.’ Lockesh licked his lips. ‘And I will back you too, when the moment is right.’
Hynd flinched. That was something he had thought never to hear. He swapped glances with Jeral. For once there was no quick riposte waiting. Jeral understood the situation.
‘Thank you, my lord,’ he said.
‘Trust no one. Tell no one,’ said Lockesh. ‘We risk much by doing this, should we have to, but we risk even more by not being prepared when the time comes. Do not fail me. I will not die here. Not for you and certainly not for our useless trio of quill-wavers.’
‘I won’t let you down.’
Lockesh nodded and his face relaxed. For the first time he displayed concern for those whose lives he risked alongside his.
‘Look, Jeral. I’m asking a great deal of you, and even if we succeed here your future will be uncertain. I can protect you from some things but not from the machinations of the army. When we get home, they’ll either promote you or they’ll execute you.’
‘Some choice, eh?’ said Jeral and a smile touched his lips.
Lockesh nodded. ‘Welcome to the world of Triverne politics.’
Chapter 32
There is nothing beyond the Claw.
Serrin of the ClawBound
Auum was gone for three days, and in that time, while he wouldn’t say he came to understand Takaar, he did regain some small measure of respect for him.
Auum had watched Takaar go before returning to the city. Leaving the eaves of the forest, he saw and heard the work going on, and while he was lifted by the industry, he knew in his heart that it could never be enough. He saw Ulysan near the city gates and trotted past teams of elves digging pits on the open ground, past Pelyn drilling a fledgling militia in defensive sword moves and others practising with bows, spears, staves and pretty much any other weapon they could find.
Auum stepped aside to let carts carrying fruit, game, vegetables and herbs into the city, but his heart sank when he looked at the walls. The metal plating was fractured and thin. Stones, some cemented, some laid dry, had been hammered into place to augment the metal and protect the vulnerable wood. The covering, such as it was, only stretched across a third of the walls, and so far there was nothing to protect them from an attack across the open ground to the west.
Ulysan was directing another piece of riveted plate into position.
‘Ulysan,’ said Auum. ‘Bless you for all you have done. I’m sorry I was gone so long. And thank you for checking on me.’
Ulysan enveloped him in a bear hug, eventually pushing him back to look into his face.
‘A TaiGethen is never alone. You chose an unlikely partner for your prayers,’ he said. ‘Are you strong?’
Auum put a hand to his chest and felt his throat tighten. ‘Elyss and our baby are safe here with me for now. Grief will have to wait. Tell me where we stand.’
‘In all but one area, we are ahead of where we need to be. Unfortunately, that one area is the wall. We have neither the raw materials nor the skills to forge enough plate to cover the walls as you wanted. We have been to every building in the city and into the mines as well. Everything we have is waiting for the smiths’ forges and hammers. They work day and night. There is no rest for anyone.
‘We are ferrying stone from the quarry too, but it is a lengthy process and we will soon have to begin cutting more, unless we start digging up the foundations of the city. We are already taking up all the cobbled streets.’
‘Stone will blow apart,’ said Auum. ‘Their ice can conquer cement.’
Ulysan shrugged. ‘It is all we have and it is better than wood.’
‘What about the western ground? It is an open wound. We have to block it somehow.’
Ulysan bit his lip. ‘We have a plan, but it’s a risky one.’
He pointed up to the head of the cliffs, hundreds of feet above the city. Auum could see elves moving up there and, now he focused, he could hear their grunts and shouts of effort.
‘What’s up there?’
‘We’ve brought boulders over from the other side of the city near the quarry and got them up there with rope, pulley and muscle. Some of them are the size of twenty of you. Last count we had seven of them. Four more will be in place today, all ready to tip.’
Auum let his gaze travel down the cliff face and into the open ground below with its sporadic patches of forest, and on towards the western wall around Katura.
‘The rain run-off will have eroded the cliff face over time. It looks loose all the way down.’ Auum pointed while he spoke. Indeed the evidence of previous rockfalls lay all over the ground. ‘Boulders of that size will start an avalanche, which could have enough momentum to sweep through the city walls. I don’t know, Ulysan.’
‘I said it was risky. The way we’ve positioned the boulders means the trees will limit the risk to the city. I’ve agonised over this, Merrat, Grafyrre and Faleen too. We don’t think we can bring enough stone over in time to fortify the wall and felling trees to make a barricade only lessens our defensive advantage — and will be to no avail against their magic. We’d welcome another option.’
Auum imagined the avalanche and the sheer destructive power it represented was beguiling even though once started it would be completely beyond their control. Such a risk, but such potential too; and they were nothing if not desperate for anything that might give them an edge.
‘When did you plan to release the boulders?’
‘Today. We thought that if the worst happens, that gives us some time to rebuild, and to organise the rubble into a solid wall.’
Auum raised his eyebrows. ‘I think that’s too early — you’re thinking too defensively. The enemy will see that ground as a weakness. They’ll attack it, I’m sure. Let them come, let them fill that space. Then release your boulders. No magical shield is going to withstand such an avalanche. Remember, we have to win this fight, not just fend off defeat for as long as we can.’
Ulysan smiled. ‘I’m glad you’re back.’
‘So am I.’
‘Aren’t you going to tell me, then?’
‘Tell you what?’
‘Whatever you and Takaar spoke about for three days on end.’
Auum thought for a moment, wondered if telling Ulysan would inspire him or undermine him. He banked on it being inspiring.
‘There’s another state of combat. Takaar discovered it while he was exiled and Elyss’ murder cast me into it. It was extraordinary, Ulysan. I could see everything so clearly. My enemies were ponderous and I was so… precise. But it’s a state that can’t be taught. It must be found.
‘When all this is over, we’ll have the time to seek that part of our minds that gifts us this skill. To my great regret we cannot hope to learn it before the humans reach us. But for those of us that live through this, there is so much more for the TaiGethen to experience.
‘So don’t die, all right?’
Ulysan regarded him for a moment. ‘That was unexpected to say the least. You’re going to have to tell me more.’
‘Later. In private. Don’t say anything to the others; it could be a distraction and Yniss knows we cannot afford that.’
‘I’ll find you,’ said Ulysan.
‘I’d be very disappointed if you didn’t.’
The tracking cells had reached Katura bringing news that every soul already knew. The enemy campfires had been visible for a couple of nights now, and the sound of song and the thump of thousands of feet had echoed along
