starts, move fast. But don’t charge until you see my signal.”
Traax came to attention. “I live to serve,” he said. After giving Duvessa a look of farewell, he ran off to carry out his orders.
Rafe responded by giving Tristan a final slap on the back. “No matter what happens, it was a pleasure knowing you, dango!” he said, then walked off to join his horsemen belowdecks.
Wigg moved a bit closer to Tristan. “I might have been wrong about those highlanders,” he admitted softly. Tristan’s only answer was a smile.
After a time, Tristan saw his forces gather on the field. Their great numbers would soon be easily visible to the enemy, and he was counting on that.
With their weapons gleaming in the sun, thousands of Minions stood in tightly formed phalanxes. Traax and Ox were at their head. Ahead of the phalanxes were hundreds of mounted highlander horsemen, their colorful clothes in direct contrast to the Minions’ dark hair and body armor. Knowing that they were about to go into battle, the highlander warhorses pawed the ground and strained against their bits and reins.
We will soon know, Tristan thought as he looked back at Wigg. May the Afterlife be with us.
He gave Wigg a nod. Wigg nodded in return.
The First Wizard raised one hand. An azure bolt shot from his fingertips and went flying into the air, signaling that the attack should start.
At once the highlander horsemen charged toward the Recluse while half the Minions flew low cover. The other half ran across the ground behind them. It was a breathtaking sight. Even from the deck of theTammerland Tristan could feel the ground tremble as his forces gathered speed and tore for the Recluse. To draw Serena’s forces out as quickly as possible, the highlanders and Minions started screaming out insults and epithets of every conceivable kind.
As expected, shrews again surfaced from the lake to face their foes. Snarling and shaking their heads, they thundered toward the approaching Conclave forces. As the two terrible armies charged, Tristan turned his spyglass toward the Recluse walls. Wigg remained by his side, waiting for Tristan’s next order.
Come, you bastards, the prince’s mind begged.
And then he saw them. Like the time before, thousands of small areas on the Recluse walls started shifting, telling him that Serena’s flying creatures were about to join the battle. Now there could be no reprieve, no turning back from the Conclave’s plan.
“Do it!” Tristan shouted at Wigg.
At once the First Wizard loosed another azure bolt into the air. This time it was a signal to Faegan, Aeolus, and Jessamay. Then Wigg raised his arms, just as Tristan knew the other three Conclave mystics would be doing. As the prince turned his gaze to the lake surrounding the Recluse, he held his breath.
The entire lake started rising into the air. It was the single-most stunning display of the craft Tristan had ever seen.
The formula Faegan and Abbey had concocted had three stages, and each one had to work perfectly for the plan to succeed. First, at Faegan’s command the formula would spread quickly throughout the lake. Then the formula would be called on to hold the lake in its original shape as the mystics lifted it into the air. Finally, it had to change the color and consistency of the lake water.
As the water rose from the lake bed, Tristan was stunned to see that it was indeed keeping its shape. Its inner border matched the fortress walls, while its outer border conformed to the lakeshore boundaries. Not only were thousands of tons of water being lifted into the air, but also everything it contained. Without warning, the mystics allowed wounded shrews, rocks, fish, and water vegetation to go crashing back to the empty lake bed. As the oddly shaped ring of water rose toward the Recluse’s wall tops, Tristan smiled as he watched Serena’s stunned consuls and Valrenkians leave their posts and run for their lives.
Soon Tristan saw the suspended lake water surrounding the Recluse turn dark red. The crimson liquid was stunning as it twinkled with the craft and literally hung there in space. Now there was only one more thing to be done.
Tristan looked over at Wigg to see that the First Wizard’s face had reddened mightily from the strain, and that his entire body was shaking. Then he saw Wigg partly relax. Tristan knew that without the First Wizard’s powers, Faegan, Aeolus, and Jessamay would be working harder to keep the lake aloft, but it couldn’t be helped. As Wigg pointed his arms toward the Recluse and brought the final part of the spell, Tristan again looked toward the hovering body of water.
With a thunderous crash, the lake water exploded.
Crystalline beads of sticky, red water burst forth in every direction, flooding the Recluse walls and deluging the sky. The red drops flew high and wide, bathing everything they touched in their crimson embrace.
When Tristan saw thousands of red shapes suddenly leave untouched spots behind on the walls, he knew that his mystics had succeeded. Because the endowed water landed atop the creatures’ skin, even if their color changed they would still be seen. Unfazed, the thousands of red flying creatures did their duty to the Vagaries, and started hurtling through the sky toward Tristan’s forces.
At last! Tristan rejoiced. We can finally meet them on equal terms!
He lowered his spyglass and trained it on the battlefield. Following Tristan’s orders, Rafe’s riders were well out ahead of the low-flying Minions and the warriors charging on foot. Tristan’s plan called for the highlander riders to charge directly through the spaces between the shrews’ undisciplined ranks and kill as many as possible on the first pass. Those shrews still alive would be dealt with by the warriors on foot, while those higher up would busy themselves with the red creatures. Tristan held his breath as the two opposing forces on the ground and in the air rushed toward each other.
One hundred meters, he thought. Seventy…forty…ten…
With a thunderous clash, the two armies tore into each other.
Hanging sideways from their saddles, Rafe’s highlanders courageously threaded their charging mounts among the onrushing shrews and launched arrow after arrow at the snarling beasts. Hundreds of shrews went crashing to the earth. Then more fell, and more after that. By the time they reached the warriors, their ranks had thinned. As the highlanders rode thorough the ragged ends of the shrew lines, they reclaimed their saddles and wheeled their horses around. Waving their sabers this time, they charged to attack the beasts from the rear.
As the remaining shrews met the warriors, the Minions on the ground started hacking into the beasts. Grateful that the first part of his plan was succeeding, Tristan turned his attention to the air campaign.
Because the airborne warriors could finally see their opponents, they could fight them in earnest. Soon dead envelopers and warriors started falling from the sky to oftentimes crash haphazardly atop the Minions and the shrews fighting below them. Sometimes only clothing, weapons, and wet bones fell, marking the death of another warrior. Soon the battlefield was strewn with carnage of every conceivable kind.
As Tristan watched the battle unfold, his right hand tightened around the spyglass. He longed to be with his forces. He could feel theK’Shari Forestallment calling out to him, demanding to be used. But he knew that for now his place was on the bow of theTammerland, overseeing the battle. Taking a deep breath, he lowered the spyglass and turned to look at the worried Conclave members. Now there was nothing to do but wait, and see which way the tide of battle turned.
The massive carnage would go on for three more hours. In the end, the Conclave forces would triumph. As Tristan watched his bloodied warriors and highlanders return from the battlefield, he closed his eyes in gratitude.
But he knew that even now it wasn’t over. Although Serena’s forces had been weakened, he had every confidence that she had kept some in reserve for a last-ditch effort to defend her child. He was sure of it, because it was what he would have done. Worse, Serena’s mystics and Valrenkians probably outnumbered his mystics. Even so, there was no time to lose.
As soon as theJin’Sai could regroup his tired army, he would attack the Recluse for the final time. They would either take it, or die trying.
CHAPTER LXV
