“Ezraan, alive,” Janis murmured. “I don’t believe it.”
Khollo decided it was best to get all of the grief out of the way now, before Janis got his hopes up too much. “Ezraan was alive,” he said, his voice unsteady. “And he helped Kanin and I for a time, training us and sharing his knowledge from the library of the Order with us. But then we were attacked by a tiger, the largest cat I’ve ever seen. It surprised us in the night and . . . Ezraan didn’t make it. But Kanin and I avenged him.”
Janis sighed sadly. “After all of these years . . . for a moment I had hoped that you would tell me he was coming back too.”
Khollo did not think it prudent to tell the old warrior that Ezraan had not wanted to come back, that he had been perfectly happy on the island, living full of anger and spite and bitterness for ten years. “I wish that he was,” Khollo said instead. “The weeks we had together were some of the best I’ve lived.”
“I’m happy for you, then,” Janis said, tears brightening his eyes. “You got to meet your father at last.”
“He wasn’t what I expected,” Khollo said with a laugh. “But he was a good man.”
Janis nodded. “Well, we can talk more about Ezraan later. But what else has happened since you left?”
“We spent a little over six weeks on the island,” Khollo explained. “Learning about the Order, restoring some of the buildings, and training with Ezraan. Then, finally, we discovered a map and a way to get back to the mainland and ended up at Ishkabur just in time for a battle.”
“Ishkabur? The city still stands?” Janis asked incredulously.
“And will stand, for a long time yet,” Khollo assured him. “Another supply run was successfully executed, with a little help from Kanin, and the vertaga were dealt a stunning defeat as well. Lord Horam is optimistic about their chance of survival, and when we parted he thought they could hold the city almost indefinitely. After that brief skirmish we flew north through the Fells, since I’ve been having visions again . . .” Khollo’s voice trailed off, wondering how much he should share.
Tell them, Kanin urged. Perhaps they can make sense of it.
“You had more visions?” Hern prompted.
“Right,” Khollo muttered. “One was of Ishkabur, part of the city in flames. Another was of three galleys, probably the supply run we saved. After that, though, we saw two marching armies. A force of vertaga, multiple thousands strong, marching across plains, and another force, even larger, of men. They were marching through a dense forest but I could make out a few of their banners as they moved through clearings.”
“Which ones?” Janis said eagerly. “We’ve had word that King Relam is marching to our aid, but we don’t know the size of his force or who accompanies him.”
“There was a red boar,” Khollo said, struggling to remember. “And a silver stag. Maybe a green hawk?”
“Three of the great lords,” Janis murmured. “At least. Relam’s army must be thousands strong if he has mustered so many. Were there any other devices you could make out?”
“No,” Khollo said, shaking his head ruefully. “But there were definitely other banners there.”
“Well, we know more than we did,” Janis replied gratefully. “Still, two thousand vertaga will be hard to beat, even with the reinforcements from Mizzran – ”
“From Mizzran?” Khollo asked, surprised.
“My father came through, eventually,” Sermas grunted. “He still isn’t proud of having a soldier in the family, but when I told him there was a chance I could die here without his help and that I was staying . . . he decided to send a couple hundred soldiers to help out.”
“We’ll need everything we can get,” Khollo muttered. “Do we know how far away the vertaga are? Kanin and I didn’t see them when we were flying north.”
“Two days, maybe,” Ondus broke in, speaking for the first time. “Leon says his scouts are having trouble predicting how fast the vertaga travel though.”
“And the expansion of the fortress is finished?” Khollo pressed.
“Yes,” Janis agreed. “We made a few . . . modifications to your design while you were gone.”
“Good ones,” Khollo muttered. “This is going to be a tough place for the vertaga to take.”
“That was the goal,” Janis agreed. “But we haven’t decided how to deploy our defenders yet.”
“Any ideas?” Hern asked hopefully.
Khollo looked around the circle of eager faces. “Why are you all looking to me?” he asked.
Sermas shrugged uncertainly. “Well, you’re the one who came up with the plan to expand the fortress, figured out the vertaga attack pattern – ”
“ – and now maybe saved Ishkabur along the way,” Ondus agreed. “Janis and I have experience, Khollo, but you have the innovative creativity required to achieve the impossible.”
Khollo took a deep breath and looked at Kanin. What do you think?
I am no tactician, Kanin replied.
No, can I lead them? Khollo asked.
You must. You are a Keeper.
Khollo sighed heavily. “How many men do we have?”
“Fifty from the original garrison,” Janis answered immediately. “Three hundred and fifty from Mizzran, professional soldiers all. Another seven hundred villagers trained by Rowert and some of the others. They’re not particularly skilled,
