DragonCrown Saga - The Grand Crusade Part 44

She never got a chance to cast any magick. With a furious roar, Hlucri streaked along the stone and leaped, arms upraised and claws glinting. His descending form eclipsed Ferxigo, but Isaura caught a flash of pure astonishment on her face. Hlucri's arms crisscrossed in slas.h.i.+ng motions, releasing a b.l.o.o.d.y black mist into the air. Ferxigo's tentacle writhed on the ground, but Hlucri did not pause. Instead, he landed on two of thearaftufrom the southern group and they disintegrated into a wet cloud of feathers.

The Spritha wheeled and twisted through the air, then turned and spat a gob of webbing that collapsed anaraftu's wing. That creature crashed heavily to the earth while the female elf cut another in half with a quick sword slash. Two others diving at her screamed as Resolute hurled metal stars that spitted them.

Hlucri killed a third with a backhanded swat, and two others fled for the sky, flapping their wings hard.

That only leaves two.

Isaura spun and saw the last of the twoaraftuon the dolmen sinking into its shoulders. Molten eyes burned in an almost featureless face. As she looked up into those red-gold spots, flames actually flared, the way they had in Nefrai-laysh's eyes.

She held a hand out, slowly, tentatively. "You are the Norrington?"

The stone creature lifted his chin and two dark spots appeared on his throat where the horrid wounds had been when she healed him.

Isaura looked back over her shoulder and saw Sayce was still facedown, with the Spritha and female elf hovering over her. She crossed to her, knelt, and cast a diagnostic spell.

The elf grabbed her shoulder. "What are you doing to her?"

"Checking to see if she or the baby is hurt." Isaura recognized the concern in the elf's voice, as the spell she used manifested with the red glow of Aurolani magick as she cast it. Isaura looked up and smiled.

"She will be sore, but the child is fine."

Isaura s.h.i.+vered as she caught the Norrington out of the corner of her eye.Oh, Sayce, this is not at all what you expected. Physically you will recover, but will your heart be broken anew?

Off to Isaura's left Resolute had gotten his sword back and stood looking at Hlucri. "Which are you?

Hlucri or Lombo?"

Thesullancirishrugged. "Guardian. Lady Snowflake."

Isaura rose from Sayce's side and approached them. "Nefrai-kesh made him asullanciri. He charged him with watching out for me."

Resolute frowned deeply. "Asullanciricreates asullanciriwho is capable of destroying othersullanciri^ Curious."

"How so?"

The Vorquelf s.h.i.+fted his shoulders uneasily. "I knew Kenwick Norrington. I always found it hard to believe he would become one of Chytrine's creatures. Was he able to hold a part of himself back so he could be her undoing? Did he make that sacrifice so this generation could do what he could not? He gave Adrogans Okrannel and firedirt. It makes sense for him to give you Hlucri to keep you safe, but did he intend it as more?"

"What do you mean, more?"

Resolute gave her a frank gaze, which softened slightly. "Hlucri attacked because an order was given that would have had you killed."

"I understand that."

"Where do you think that order came from?"

The answer hit her with the force of one of Hlucri's blows. She stumbled back a step, then found her body cus.h.i.+oned and supported. She iooked up and saw the Norrington looking down at her. His eyes flared for a moment, then the glow withdrew ever so slightly, as if sockets were beginning to form.

Hlucri trotted over slowly, then sniffed and sat, licking blood from his claws.

"My mother was willing to have me killed?"

Resolute nodded. "I can't think of any other answer."

Isaura pointed north, in the direction the two survivingaraftuwere flying. "She'll know we're coming."

"She's always known we'd be coming. She knows what we will do when we get there." Resolute shrugged and slid his sword back into its scabbard. "I don't see any reason to keep her waiting."

i A lexia leaned forward, placing her hands on a portion of Caledo's wall. TheLAdragonfire had left it smooth, as if centuries of river water had worn it away. I 1 That cool soft erosion contrasted sharply with the crumbled edges of buildings that had been shattered by dragonel b.a.l.l.s in the city behind her.

Facing her and drawn up in ranks were the troops Prince Erlestoke had brought with him from Oriosa.

She knew what he'd gone out with from Saporicia, and those troops had been roughly used. The Alcidese Throne Guards had lost a quarter of their strength, and the Oriosan Volunteers had been all but wiped out. Soldiers from the East Country, Hawkride, and the Midlands had supplemented his force, but a third of his strength was made up of troops who, generously, would be cla.s.sed as militia and had seen nothing of war.

That was, however, not true of the urZrethi troops who had joined the Oriosan host. The Boka Dragonkillers and the Saren Guards each mustered a full regiment. Just having the Dragonkillers-who had been known as the Coal Seam Guards prior to their work in Oriosa-had been a boost to morale.

Alexia's mind was fairly bursting with ways to employ them.

She turned and nodded to Erlestoke and, past him, to his brother. "These troops are a wonderful addition to our force."

Alexia turned to face the troops and raised her voice. "I have been told all you have done to get here, and I cannot express my amazement, respect, and grat.i.tude for your having joined us. You all have left your homes and your loved ones to fight in a war that could tear your nation apart as it has sundered so many others. Some of you have fought off invasions; others seek to prevent them from happening.Allof you will help restore many people to their homes-people who now have nothing but memories.

"All of you have lost comrades, but all of you have seen bravery played out in countless ways. I deeply regret the news that Dranae was slain, but his courage must be something to which we all look in the coming days. When faced with overwhelming odds, he did not shrink, but thrust himself into battle as the situation demanded. No, he was not like us-he was a dragon-but that makes his sacrifice that much greater. He could have chosen to sit this war out, as many have, but he did not."

She nodded to them all. "You, too, have answered the call that will s.h.i.+eld the unprepared from evil's touch. The lives we have all left-the lives to which we shall return-are not easily secured. What we will do in the coming days is to win them for a generation, and another and another. We will fight and bleed and some of us die, so our children, and their children, may never again have to face the decision to go to war. For this, no price is too great. Welcome all of you, and thank you."

A cheer rose through the ranks, loudest from the irregular formations. Alexia saluted the troops, then the Oriosan Princes. Then the three royals descended from the wall as officers started shouting orders and dispersing the troops.

Erlestoke descended directly behind her. "I've taken time to go over the maps the Gyrkyme scouts are making. Nefrai-kesh is setting up a vicious fortification."

She nodded, her own stomach fluttering at the strained tone in Erlestoke's voice. "You're right. It's even more hideous when you look at the model we've got. Come with me."

Alexia led them through a couple of twists of streets, and then down into the subterranean levels of Caledo. She'd located her command center underground, just in case the dragon Nefrai-kesh had working on the fortifications was sent south. In reality, the dragon could destroy her army pretty easily, since there was no way to house all of them in the ruins, and the ruins would have offered little or no protection anyway. And while Arimtara would give as good as she got, having her die the way Dranae did would have been utterly demoralizing.

They entered a dim room thick with the scent of candles and oil lamps. Perrine and her father stood near the three-dimensional map, pointing out new features to the engineer. Across from them, Crow was in deep conversation with a pair ofmeckanshu-his brother Sallitt and his wife, Jancis Ironside. Crow smiled at her as she approached, but stayed with his brother as she led the Oriosan Princes to the south end of the table.

"This is what we will be facing."

The Aurolani position had once been a trio of three hills, with the one in the middle slightly south of the other two. The hills had been flattened and dropped in elevation several hundred feet, or so she had been told. The earth had been used to fill in the gaps between them, presenting an undulating wall of earth with a fairly steep pitch. From the plains to the top was about a hundred yards, and every inch of it-as well as the approaches to it-would be studded with dragonels.

From the northern hills, trenching had been dug that went east and west respectively for a thousand yards. The eastern trench had a leg that went off north at an angle, and both of them ended with a small hill that likewise had been flattened and fitted into a dragonel battery. The only way up to the hills was a serpentine road to the north, which had several switchbacks and could be raked easily by dragonels.

Along the southern edge of the hills lay a dry riverbed. The Aurolani had succeeded in damming the river just to the east of their position, making a huge lake. Not only did the top of the dam provide a place where troops could be stationed, but if the dam was destroyed, it would flood the battlefield and sweep away any troops moving to the a.s.sault.

As if the possibility of drowning were not bad enough, the model showed each of the dragonel batteries.

The three large hills had four of them, each of which had been dug out and reinforced with logs.

Dragonels could be moved easily within them, so they could be ma.s.sed to shoot at any concentration of troops. Logs even formed a roof over the batteries so the chances of the skycast-ers Erlestoke had captured in Okrannel damaging the dragonels were severely limited.

Erlestoke stroked his chin with his left hand. "Even though the site is only four miles inland from the coast, we can't s.h.i.+p troops around through Porjal and come in from behind. The approach up that road will be just as deadly as any frontal a.s.sault."

Alexia nodded. "If we lay a conventional siege, I don't know how long he can hold out, but the amount of spare earth spread around there makes me believe the hills are honeycombed with supply bunkers and lots of surprises-if the fortification near Zamsina was truly prophetic in its creation. Nefrai-kesh will antic.i.p.ate our having urZrethi allies, so the potential for a war beneath the earth will not have been discounted."

Linchmere pointed with his stub. "Any idea how many troops he has there, as well as their composition?"

"We can guess, but nothing solid." Alexia shrugged. "With what you've brought in, we have nearly twenty-two thousand. Three-quarters of the force I would consider reliable, and a full third the best in the world. A third of it is also cavalry, which is going to be less than useful here."

The elder Oriosan Prince shook his head. "There's going to be no easy way to do this, is there?"

"No." Alexia pointed at the straight line of the western trench. "This protects the slope of the northwest hill. It is, by far, the easiest approach, but to get a force over there would take so long, it would give the Aurolani ample time to reorient their dragonels to sweep the area. Moreover, if they've hidden troops in the forest to the west, past this clear area, our backs will be vulnerable when we attack that trench. This is going to be b.l.o.o.d.y, but that isn't the thing that scares me the most."

"Then what is?"

Alexia snarled. "I have to a.s.sume these hills are a hive, and that when we attack, Aurolani are going to come pouring forth to man the trenches and the dragonels. But what if they aren't? What if he's got another army staging elsewhere? While we prepare our a.s.sault, he just hooks east and marches fast to Narriz or Yslin or Meredo? Do I devote some of my forces to range out there and see? What do I do if I find an army out there?"

Erlestoke nodded. "Worse, what if that army waits until we're engaged here and marches at our rear?"

"Exactly." Alexia sighed. "That's our situation. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, and we have no way of knowing if what we're going to do will tip it in our favor or throw it so far out that it will never be right again."

Resolute found himself surprised by Princess Sayce's reaction to Force. She'd been taken to Aurolan long before Oracle had mentioned that the Norrington was waiting on Vorquellyn. And he was thankful for that. If she had believed she would see Will again, then found a stone creature in his place, that would have been cruel beyond words.

Instead, when she'd been revived and rea.s.sured her child was safe, she'd been told what Force was.

The news did come as a blow to her. It summoned tears, but not many and not for long. She spoke to Force, but the stone creature showed no real understanding of what she was saying. His eyes glowed and even flamed at one point, but Force did not reach out for her.

Qwc, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time with her, riding on her shoulder as he had on Force's.

Resolute had spoken to her after Sayce had conversed with Force. "He has dealt with you no better or no worse than any of the rest of us."

Sayce nodded. "I understand. To die and to come back as something no longer flesh and blood...

You've explained that Force is not Will, that he is just another aspect of the Norrington. I actually understand that very well."

"How so, Princess?"

She smiled carefully. "Just that t.i.tle, for example. Am I a princess, or has the slaughter of my family made me into the queen? Will the powers liberating Muroso decide that it should be parceled out to Saporicia or Oriosa, or combined with Sebcia, or turned into a nation that is the equivalent of Fortress Draconis?

You know what the crowns did to Crow. They could do that to me and my nation. Through acts far less traumatic than dying, I could be elevated or discarded."

The Vorquelf watched her carefully as they marched back north. "That is far more philosophical than I would have expected."

"Don't mistake me, Resolute, or think me callous. Will's death hurt very much, but I have learned to deal with it. I have learned to accept that my child will have no father. Force may be part of the Norrington, but Will was the father of my child. This baby is no more Force's responsibility than Force is capable of a.s.suming that responsibility."

"You're a wise woman." He frowned. "You've traveled with Isaura for a while, and spoken with her before. Has she told you who her parents were?"

The Murosan stiffened for a moment. "I know she isn't truly Chytrine's child, but I have no idea who her parents were. Why are you asking?"

Resolute glanced over to where Isaura walked in silence next to Force. "It's not truly important. I was just curious."

"Resolute, I've not known you long, but I don't believe your curiosity has ever been idle."

Trawyn joined them. "It hasn't; this I would vouchsafe. The secret of her ident.i.ty should not be difficult to ascertain. She's clearly adesanel?

Sayce s.h.i.+fted the straps on her pack. "I don't know that word."

Resolute's voice tightened slightly. "It's Elvish. It means a child of mixed parentage. It's most commonly used to denigrate the Gyrkyme."

"You seek to scourge me with it, Resolute, but I have met Gyrkyme and I repudiate their condemnation." Trawyn laid a hand on Sayce's shoulder. "It is possible for an elf and another race to bear children. The elf blood in her is obvious, as is the human. I would a.s.sume she was the child of one of thesullanciri, wouldn't you, Resolute?"

"Is there a purpose for your speculation, Highness?"

Trawyn laughed. "Only the same as yours. I have heard the prophecy in the original. I know the nuances."

Sayce glanced at one elf and then the other. "You might as well have this whole conversation in Elvish because I'm not understanding anything other than that who her parents were might have a bearing on the prophecy."

Resolute lowered his voice. "The prophecy has many nuances, dealing with the number of companions for the Norrington, and it hints at ident.i.ties. A Hawkins seems always to accompany a Norrington when the latter succeeds at something. It would be greatly significant if her mother were Seethe and her father were Tarrant Hawkins."

"Crow?" Sayce's eyes grew wide. She looked over at Isaura, then closed her eyes. "Around the eyes a little. The ears throw it off, but those are from her mother, clearly. And the white hair is there."

Trawyn smiled. "Youcouldask, Resolute."

He gave her a withering glance. "I don't believe she knows. Chytrine would never have told her if Crow was her father. Besides, I'm sure of it."I knew it the moment I heard her speak. "We have a Hawkins to help our Norrington. The strands of fate are getting bound up tight."

Hlucri and Resolute did most of the scouting for the expedition. For the most part they were able to move fairly quickly. They saw no more signs ofaraftu, though Hlucri had to slay a drearbeast that had slipped from its den and started looking for food. But that was the only threat they faced from the natural fauna in the area.

Resolute did come upon one curious spot. The easiest path for them to take through some hills led them near a series of depressions that, given the rising gra.s.ses, remained hidden. A company of soldiers could have been lurking in one of the gra.s.sy bowls to ambush them. So Resolute scouted each one, and in the third found something.

A company of Aurolani gibberers, or so he imagined, had indeed been waiting there. It was difficult for him to tell if they had been slain in the day or at night precisely because of how they died. It seemed readily apparent that a lot of fire, veryhotfire, had filled that bowl. If they had tents, blankets, or even clothing, it had been burned away instantly. The bodies had been well roasted, and all of the corpses showed signs of various animals having feasted on them.

Resolute squatted at the edge of the bowl. A dragon had clearly been responsible for their deaths. What one was doing traveling ahead of them, he had no clue. If it was an ally, it could simply have flown them to Chytrine's fortress and been done with it.If it is not...

Resolute stood and spat into the bowl. "Dragons' games. They were the start of this, and they'll be played past the end. No matter. As long as they play around us and not with us, we'll fulfill the prophecy and leave them to their contests."

For Princess Alexia of Okrannel, the day should have been a glorious one. The month of Toil had given way to Green, and the premature heat had abated slightly, so that the long march to Sebcia-barely sixty miles northeast-would not be too brutal or tiring for her troops. Her army had come to ma.s.s over twenty-five thousand troops, which made it the largest force a.s.sembled in the world for centuries.

General Pandiculia's army had departed two days earlier. Alexia had met with the woman for several hours and had confidence that Pandiculia would be able to handle her a.s.signment well. The Salnian general had given her a frank stare after she outlined the mission. "You're not just asking us to do this because, so far, we've been unblooded?"

"No, not at all." Alexia had rested her hands on the woman's shoulders. "You've taken a sloppy force and brought it to the point where I know you'll be able to hold off any Aurolani troops. Moreover, I am counting on you to be my reserve. I'm not going to put troops I don't trust in that position."

"I didn't think you would, but I had to ask. If we can get through the rest of this war with nothing bloodier than blisters, I won't mind, but we are ready for more than that."

"I know, which is why I am trusting you to do this job."

Pandiculia's army was tasked with acting as a screening force on the road first, then moving to block the Murosan city of Porjal. Porjal had fallen to the Aurolani early in the war and had been used as a resupply point for things being s.h.i.+pped down from the north. Scouting reports indicated that the city had a very light garrison, but Alexia did not want to take the time to conquer it. It didn't matter how many troops Nefrai-kesh had hidden away there. As long as they remained bottled up in the city, they were of no consequence. If her own forces ran into serious trouble, she could call on Pandiculia's troops as relief, which gave her a means of retreat and avoiding annihilation.

Now she stood alone in her command center and looked around. The maps and the models they had created had all been modified to suggest she had far more in the way of troops than she did. She expected Aurolani spies to pour over the place once she'd gone. She doubted Nefrai-kesh would believe any of the information gleaned from the place, but if it even caused him a moment's hesitation, she would be happy.

Alyx stared down at the model. She had been trained her entire life to be able to solve the most difficult military puzzles. She knew every battle from history and fable. Looking at the situation she was facing, were she to be dispa.s.sionate and detached, she could figure the odds of success and the casualty rates for the battle. She refrained from doing that because even the most optimistic estimate was too hideous to contemplate.