If the gate is built the same way the Keepers on Ethgalin built their buildings, we will never breach it, Kanin replied.
Khollo had not considered that possibility. But now that he thought about it, Dun Carryl had been around in the same age as Ethgalin. Why shouldn’t they have been built with the same construction techniques, the same strength?
“That could be a problem,” Khollo agreed.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, sorry,” Khollo said, glancing at Relam. “I was talking to Kanin. He is worried that the gate may be practically indestructible.”
“Even for a dragon?”
I do not know that I could break stone, Kanin said doubtfully. I have never tried.
Khollo passed Kanin’s reply on, and Relam frowned, concerned.
“If we can’t breach that gate, then we’ll be vulnerable,” he observed.
“Extremely,” Khollo agreed. “But, if you are committed to this attack, I think I have a plan that will put our troops at minimum risk from the vertaga forces.”
“The goal is to end this war decisively,” Relam replied. “We attack with everything we have.”
“Thought you might say that,” Khollo said, grinning. “So, here is what we must do.”
Chapter 55
Khollo looked down on the gray heathland of Dun Carryl as Kanin soared over Relam’s army, marching in rigid formation, carting along a wheeled battering ram and a few low-powered catapults. These smaller, slightly more mobile war machines were all they had managed to bring with them through the mountains.
Even with the reduction in heavy equipment, it had taken ten days to move the army through the mountains between the pass and Dun Carryl, but here they were at last, on the brink of a battle that could decide the war.
Kanin wheeled around so that he was flying parallel to the front line. Khollo saw Relam’s bear head flying right in the middle. The young king was flanked by Sermas, Hern, and Janis. Beyond them were more lords and generals and officers. Spaced out along the rest of the front line were the banners of the green hawk, the silver stag, the red boar, the blue lion, and the icy wolf. Behind those proud frontrunners were other, less impressive banners, scattered throughout the well-ordered ranks.
The young king is doing well, Kanin observed. The Sthan army is strong. But is it enough?
With us, it might be, Khollo replied, turning his attention to the mouth of the canyon, nearly a mile away.
A horn sounded directly below them and Relam’s army began to advance in perfect formation. The front rank led off with a jingle of harnesses and equipment, riding in a long, unbroken line. Behind the center of the front rank rode a company of heavy cavalry, flying the sigil of a white stallion on a tan field. The men gathered around this standard had heavy war lances standing upright in boots on the sides of their saddles. Around them were several groups of light cavalry, armed with swords and spears, even the occasional long-handled axe. And behind those first few ranks of cavalry marched file upon file of foot soldiers.
Each man’s armor was burnished to a shine, his weapons in perfect condition. The tramp of their feet echoed off of the mountains as they marched in unison. Around the edges of the army Khollo could pick out elite soldiers from the plains city of Obel-Bin, recognizable by the two-meter shields strapped to arms. Khollo had heard these men were the best soldiers the world had seen, fearless, ruthless, and highly skilled.
There was no sign of activity in the narrow chasm leading to Dun Carryl. The mountain appeared deserted, the gently rising land around it barren and devoid of life. Khollo knew that somewhere the vertaga lurked, unseen, waiting for their opportunity to strike out at the Sthan.
The army is splitting, Kanin reported. Just as you suggested.
Khollo looked down. Sure enough, two forces had split off from the main body of the army. Each was composed mostly of archers with a small number of light cavalry trailing behind. These two forces began looping around to mount the sloping lands to the left and right of the canyon. They would take positions on the edge of the canyon itself, high above the path to Dun Carryl. The main army continued plodding on, encumbered by the siege engines in its midst.
An hour passed. Kanin flew lazy circles over Relam’s army, watching for the first sign of a vertaga counterattack. Khollo did the same, scanning the slopes and heathland. The only thing he saw though was the painfully slow advance of the Sthan forces. They were nearly three quarters of the way to the canyon now.
At last, the two smaller forces were in position, peering down into the canyon, arrows already nocked. The light cavalry that had been sent with each group stood a little apart, looking further up the slopes at the mountain, from whence they would expect any counterattack to come. But there was still nothing, no sign that the vertaga had even noticed they were advancing.
Relam’s army paused briefly at the mouth of the canyon and reformed. Foot soldiers took the lead, and the lords of the Sthan kingdom retreated into the center of the army, where they were less likely to be snared in a vertaga trap. The siege engines rolled along right behind King Relam and the other lords, guarded by the elite plainsmen.
Finally, the army began moving into the canyon, short rows of warriors wending their way through the chasm. The heavy cavalry had stopped at the mouth of the canyon. They were Relam’s best
