every soldier.’
‘I am astonished by your complacency. This is not some trifling matter. Mages could start falling from the sky, or be engulfed by their own flame.’
‘ If! If the Sundering should happen. It has not, and while it has not your mages will join battle with mine. They will fight.’
‘Gentlemen, gentlemen. The camp is awake and hanging on your every word,’ said Jeral, nodding at Hynd, who was standing nearby looking, frankly, frightened. ‘Can I help at all?’
Sinese looked at him as he might look at a smear of shit on his shoe. ‘Who the hell are you?’
‘I am Jeral, commander of the Ysundeneth army.’
Sinese tipped back his head and roared with laughter.
‘Some good news at last. A real soldier, by the look of you.’ His expression sobered. ‘But no doubt you’re also complicit in hiding the risk our brother mages face.’
‘No, sir. I am anxious to see this battle won before that risk grows any further. What’s happened?’
Lockesh waved a hand at Sinese. ‘In his wisdom, the general relayed Ystormun’s news to all under his command. His mages, he says, are now too scared to cast in case their spells consume them.’
‘The information is clear,’ said Sinese. ‘This battle must be won by sword alone.’
‘We heard different,’ said Lockesh. ‘We heard that the battle must be won at pace to avoid such risks. We have made great strides, but we must use our magical resources tomorrow.’
Jeral nodded. ‘That’s about the size of it, General.’
‘Then put your own mages in the line of danger. Make them cast knowing every construct might bite them without warning.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Jeral. ‘So long as your blades are the first through the gates.’
‘That’s not going to be so easy,’ said Hynd quietly.
‘What? Why?’
‘My Lord Lockesh, if I may?’ Lockesh nodded and Hynd continued: ‘The damage is already done.’
‘What damage?’ demanded Jeral, suddenly feeling nervous. ‘Talk to me, Hynd.’
‘You have to understand how much of a mage’s ability is based on confidence in the unbroken flow of mana, and how dangerous it is if that flow is interrupted. We’ve all experienced it in simulations, and not all of us have come through them unscathed.’
‘But the flow isn’t interrupted, is it?’
‘Not right now,’ said Hynd. ‘But what about in the next moment, or the next? It eats away our confidence, and a mage worrying about the flow cannot make a solid construct.’
‘But you have to risk it, right?’ Jeral spread his hands. ‘Every time I pick up my sword I’m gambling that the enemy I face isn’t as good as me. Warfare is a gamble for every one of us. We need you.’
‘I’m just being honest,’ said Hynd. ‘I’ve seen the look on many of our mages’ faces. They feel betrayed that they weren’t told, and they’re scared of what might come next.’
‘But you, Hynd,’ said Jeral. ‘If I asked you to fly, you would.’
Hynd held his gaze for a moment before letting it drop and shaking his head.
‘I don’t know, Jeral, I really don’t.’
Jeral couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘All right, maybe flying’s a bad choice. An orb, then. You’d do that, right?’
Hynd didn’t answer.
‘Gods on a pyre,’ hissed Jeral. ‘I’ve got to have spotters and I’ve got to have ground casting.’
‘I cannot promise you much of either,’ said Hynd.
Jeral jabbed a finger towards the city.
‘That city is full of Sharps. Most of them aren’t soldiers but every one of them is a dangerous fucker who’s scared of nothing but our magic. We have to have an open field when we get inside. Right now they could hide around every corner and pick us off one by one. Without you we’ll lose hundreds of men winning this thing.
‘You have to help me. You have to clear the ground of cover so my soldiers, who have not turned into total cowards, can see who the fuck they are fighting.’
‘It is not cowardice,’ said Hynd.
‘What would you call it, then?’
‘I will cast,’ said Lockesh.
Jeral started. ‘My lord?’
‘I will cast, like any common mage. I have not lost my… confidence.’ He glared at Hynd. ‘Let it be known. I will lead any mage with the courage to join me onto the field come the dawn.’
‘Thank you, my lord,’ said Jeral. ‘Every soldier is indebted to you.’
‘I merely wish to get this done and to be able to walk out of here alive.’
‘Great,’ said Jeral and he punched Hynd hard on the shoulder. ‘Then we’re done.’
‘Not quite,’ said Sinese, clearly raging at Lockesh’s seizure of the moral high ground. ‘I would speak with you, Jeral, about a proper chain of command.’
‘Knock yourself out, but I’m not going to start reporting to you.’
Dawn arrived, and those few on the ramparts were afforded a view that would take the heart from many. With those first rays of sunshine pushing the shadows of night back into the forest, the enemy had emerged from the eaves of the forest to stand in ranks that stretched across the width of the blackened open ground.
Auum, with the bruised Pelyn beside him and a handful of TaiGethen spread along the ramparts to either side of the sundered gates, looked at the force ranged against them and could only pray for divine intervention.
Below Auum, the gates had been re-erected. Carpenters had patched the timber, and steel plates had been reattached, but it was no more than a token effort and the humans would know it.
‘They’ll come on hard and they won’t stop until their work is done,’ said Auum. ‘Are your people ready?’
Pelyn nodded. She was rubbing at her arms and her voice shook but not from fear.
‘A few have fled across the lake, looking for sanctuary in the heights above the quarry, but most have stayed. These are city people, proud people, and they know no other life. They’ll stand and fight when they must.’
Auum had ordered the city evacuated behind a line to the rear of the hall of the Al-Arynaar. Katurans were hidden in the ghettos to the south of the city and scattered among the buildings in the outer circles. Only the TaiGethen prowled the areas nearer the gate, tasked to attack mages wherever they could once the invasion began. They had built many street barricades, but all of them were wooden and none would stand up to more than a couple of castings.
The archers were hidden on the roofs and upper floors of the tallest remaining buildings. There was no shortage of arrows and poison, but the mages and shields would have to be taken down before they could be effective.
‘Here they come,’ said Auum.
The human army began to march. Auum watched them until they stopped to prepare their barrage.
‘Fall back. Let them use their spells. We can do nothing here but offer them targets.’
The defenders dropped from the ramparts and the Al-Arynaar dispersed into the depths of the city to stand with their nominated militia groups. The TaiGethen gathered to pray in the lee of the walls. When they were done, Auum faced them.
‘Sell your lives at a high price if you have to sell them at all. Look to your brothers and sisters. May Yniss guide your every footfall. Marack, Illast, Acclan, Thrynn, take your cells to the west. Keep low, strike and run. Merrat, Grafyrre, Merke, Oryaal, Corinn your cells go to the east. Ulysan and I will free-run as decoys. If we can kill the magic then we can still win. Tais, we move.’
Auum took Ulysan and ran down the main street, past the gutted and shattered buildings of the Gyalan, Ixii and Tuali ghettos and up to the outer of the four circles. The main street ran directly into the marketplace, but within the circles the alleys and side streets provided good cover. Much of the first circle facing the gate still stood, but enough buildings had suffered significant damage to persuade Auum not to hide there for too long.
A whistling and roaring filled the air. Auum watched orbs and ice boulders soar high over the walls and come smashing down in the streets just beyond the gate. Only three mages flew in the sky. Castings smashed into the fragile gates and pounded the walls to either side.
From beneath an awning that hid them from the spotters, Auum and Ulysan saw the gates disintegrate and
