'A giant automaton?' Perrantin asked.
Thelvyn shook his head from side to side. 'I also doubt that there is any machinery inside that armor. The reason why I believe it's impervious to attack is that it's nothing more than massive pieces of metal joined together by heavy hinges and set in motion by the will of the Masters. The heat of dragon-fire doesn't harm it and explosions do not damage it because it is nothing more than solid metal. The Masters stayed clear of their device as long as the dragons were attacking it. But after my battle with it, the gemstone dragons returned. Obviously their will animated the thing.'
'Do you think the power of the Radiance can shut down this armored device?' Marthaen asked.
'If you can protect the Flaem by cutting off the will of the Masters, then you can block their control of this thing as well,' Thelvyn stated. 'I see no other way of defeating it. Of course, the Masters must know that as well, and I suspect they'll send their armored device here as quickly as they can before we learn how to use the Radiance against it. I think you have until tomorrow afternoon sometime to learn to command the full power of the Radiance, or the city is lost.'
Marthaen considered that statement briefly, his ears laid back. 'I think you're right. If we can break the will of the Masters, we will solve any number of our problems. Whether or not we can do it by the time that monster gets here remains to be seen. Do you have any idea how you might slow it down?'
'It might just slow itself,' Thelvyn said. 'Can you imagine how much that thing must weigh? I'm interested in seeing how the Masters plan to get it across the river.'
Keeping track of the siege device was no problem, even from such a distance, since they could frequently see it moving through the forests and clearings east of the river from as far away as twenty miles or more. As they watched it come closer that day, they found that Thelvyn's estimate had been fairly precise. Unless it was slowed down somehow, it would reach Braejr by late the next morning, a full day ahead of the invading army. And it probably did not need an army to help it.
Finding a way to slow the metal beast was one of Thelvyn's most pressing problems, and he was unable to find any good answer. Trapping it in a pit or some other obstacle was too impractical because of the size of the thing. Its only vulnerability seemed to be that it required the will of the Masters to keep it motion, but he doubted that his own spells would be enough to break their will. If he was to try, the best time would be when it tried to cross the Aalban River. With any luck, it might become stuck in the soft mud. Just the same, he thought it best to continue the evacuation of Braejr, knowing that only a fraction of the Flaemish population could withdraw from the city in die time that remained.
When the reports came in early the next morning, the news was not good. The metal beast had turned west late the previous afternoon to intercept the main road, and it had made even better time during the night by staying on the road. It had passed the army of the Masters in the middle of the night while the invaders were camped on the side of the road, and dawn had found it less than ten miles from the bridge.
All of Thelvyn's previous plans were now of no use. He sent Kharendaen to find her brother and have him engage the full power of the Radiance as soon as he could. Then Thelvyn hurried to the near side of the bridge over the Aalban River to do anything he could to prevent or delay the armored creature from crossing the river. He had dragons stand ready in the fields on either side of the river, with firm orders that they were to stay well back from the road and avoid the metal beast. Their part was to force the Masters to keep their distance, making it as difficult as possible for them to maintain their control over their metal warrior.
When all other preparations had been made, Thelvyn could only sit in the field beside the bridge and wait. Since the powerful enchantments of the Dragonlord had failed him already, he elected to remain in dragon form. His real weapons would be his own remarkable powers and those granted to him as a cleric of the Great One, the same ones he had used to fight the will of the Masters in the first few days of their invasion of the Highlands. He was certain that the metal beast would try to wade across the river itself. The bridge would never support its tremendous weight. His part would be to keep it from gaining the west bank.
Near midmorning, he could see the dark silver-blue of the metal monster's back just over the tops of the trees to the northeast. Minutes later, the immense war machine stepped out from the trees into the last long stretch of open land on the east side of the river. At a signal from Thelvyn, Jherdar led the dragons against the score of gemstone dragons that accompanied their warrior. Spreading their wings, four hundred dragons climbed steeply into the morning sky from both sides of the river, more than enough to encourage the Masters to make a grudging retreat back to the northeast.
The metal beast paused momentarily in its stride, briefly lacking the full attention of the will that animated it while the Masters withdrew. But after a few moments, it began to move forward again, more slowly than before but with purposeful resolve. Thelvyn glanced up. The Masters were doing everything they could to evade the packs of dragons who harassed them and still stay within sight of their metal servant. Watching them, Thelvyn knew that their control of the fighting machine would now be at its weakest.
He hadn't seriously considered trying to fight the Masters for control of their warrior, but there was nothing he could do to slow down the armored monster otherwise. Once again he sat back on his haunches and opened himself to his deepest powers, and then he reached out with his will to seize control of the metallic warrior. In almost the same moment, his will was forcibly rejected, as if his mind had hit against an unseen wall. In that brief instant, he had witnessed the intricate network of spells that gave the massive device both the strength and direction that set it into motion. It was far more complex than he had anticipated, but it was also strongly warded against the intrusion of any will except that of the Masters, fiercely protecting itself from any hostile influence.
But it was also dependent upon the eyes and minds of the gemstone dragons for guidance, and the nearest of the alien dragons was now almost five miles away. Thelvyn was now fairly certain that the Masters could see through the metal warrior's jewel-like eyes, but from this distance, they could not see the land about it well enough to guide the creature accurately. While dragons had the sharpest vision in the world, five miles was a long way to try to guide the steps of a machine with eight legs. The warrior had already begun to wander somewhat north of the road, although that might have been to avoid getting itself entangled with the bridge.
Thelvyn watched with interest as the warrior's jeweled eyes began to glow bright red within the deep shadows of their protective brows. His first thought was that the Masters must be enhancing the device's vision, since they were obviously too far away to direct the creature themselves. Then he realized his mistake and leapt aside, running as fast as he could in an erratic, zigzag course. That alone saved his life. Suddenly beams of power shot out from the eyes of the warrior, striking the ground with explosive force where he had stood only a moment before.
Desperate to escape, Thelvyn scrambled over the ground, his dragon's claws digging into the deep sod to give him purchase for tight turns. The beams of ruby light followed him, ripping through the ground like some immense plow, then suddenly jumping ahead or sharply to one side to cut off the young dragon's escape. There was nowhere for Thelvyn to run, caught as he was in the open fields north of the city without protection from the searing beams. In growing fear, he turned back toward the river, seeking the uncertain safety of the water.
The attack was so swift and relentless that Thelvyn could not even begin to plan ahead, running blindly a short distance and then leaping aside to elude certain death. Suddenly one of the beams flashed across his lower back, not quite touching it but so close that it felt like raw fire. The pain caused him to stumble and crash heavily to the ground. The armor on his haunches and the base of his tail was still smoking as he struggled to rise, aware that he would be dead if he did not resume running. For the moment, the burning pain was so intense that he could hardly even walk, let alone run. But the Masters had been so intent upon their attack on Thelvyn that they had not been watching the steps of their animated servant. It continued to march toward the bank and out into the river without slowing its stride.
It was already too late for the gemstone dragons guiding the warrior to correct the problem. The front legs of the device slipped in the soft mud, and it fell down the surprisingly steep bank of the river channel, hurtled forward by its own tremendous weight. Carried by the momentum of its fall, the warrior was thrown completely over on its back and fell heavily, upside down, in the middle of the channel, creating a tremendous splash. Several hundred yards away, Thelvyn had to close his eyes and duck his head as he was caught in the sudden deluge. At least the cool water eased the burning pain of his scorched back.
He blinked and shook himself dry, glancing over his shoulder to see Kharendaen approaching. There was no sign of the metal warrior, which was probably lying on its back at the bottom of the river. It seemed to be making no effort to free itself. The Masters were apparently resigned to leave it where it was for now, perhaps finding it impossible to direct their warrior precisely from such a distance. Kharendaen landed in the field a moment later
