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"Civil war across the entire world,” Bastille said softly, nodding. "The four Librarian sects using people as their pawns. The Shattered Lens trying to hunt down and kill Dark Oculators, the Wardens of the Standard trying to manipulate things with cool-headed politics, the Scrivener's Bones working for whomever will pay them the most . . ."
We fell silent. That army outside was large; I glanced back at the city. There didn't seem to be many Mokian soldiers. Perhaps five or six thousand, both men and women. The Librarians had easily four times that number, and they were armed with futuristic guns. The enormous robots continued their work, planting the rods in the ground. They were making a ring of them, encircling the city.
Faced by such daunting numbers, I finally began to realize what I'd gotten myself into. And that's when I invented the term stoopidanated, meaning "about as stoopid as Alcatraz Smedry the day he snuck into Tuki Tuki just in time to be there when it got overwhelmed by Librarians."
It's a very specific word, I know. Odd how many times I've been able to use it in my life.
"So the rods aren't glass," I said. "What are they, then?"
"Plastic," Bastille guessed. "Some sort of glassdisrupting technology? That might be what's making the Communicator's Glass stop working."
"Might just be for light, though,” Aydee said. "Look. Those rods are bright enough that the Librarians can move about as if it were day. They look like they're getting ready to attack." She shrank down a little bit on her stool, as if to hide behind the wall.
Something occurred to me. I pulled the Courier's Lenses out of my pocket and slid them on.
Now, it might seem odd to you Hushlanders that we had so many different ways of talking to one another over a distance. But if you think about it, this makes sense. How many different ways do we have in the Hushlands? Telephone, fax, telegraph, VoIP, e-mail, regular mail, radio, shouting really loud, bottles with notes in them, texting, blimps with advertisements on them, skywriting, voodoo boards, smoke signals, etc.
Communicating with one another is a basic human need. And communicating with people far away is an even more basic human need, because that way we can make fun of people and they can't kick us in the face.
By the way, have I mentioned how ugly that shirt is? Yeah. Next time, please try to dress up a little bit when you read my books. Someone might see you and I have a reputation to maintain.
I concentrated, feeding power into my Lenses, questing out for my grandfather. His face appeared in front of me, but it was fuzzy and indistinct.
Alcatraz, lad! Grandpa said. I was hoping you'd use the Courier's Lenses. What's happening? Why doesn't the Communicator's Glass work?
“I don t know,” I replied. "The Librarians are doing something outside the city - planting these glowing rods in the ground. That might have something to do with it.”
Even as I spoke, one of the robots placed another of the rods. When it did, my grandfather's form fuzzed even more.
"Grandpa," I said urgently. "Did we convince the knights?"
Think . . . enough . . . help . . . Grandpa said, his voice cutting in and out. They know . . . king still . . . save His Majesty . . .
"I can't understand you!" I said. Another robot raised a rod into the air, preparing to place it.
I raised my hands to the side of the glasses, focusing everything I had into the Lenses. I strained, teeth gritted. Shockingly, the glass started to glow, forcing me to close my eyes as they blazed alight. My grandfather’s voice, once weak, surged back, audible again.
. . . Luring Lovecrafts, what a mess! I said I’ve nearly got them persuaded. I'll bring them, lad, and anyone else I can get to come. We'll be there. Hold out until morning! Can you hear me, Alcatraz? Morning's first light. Er. Well, no, I’ll be late. And that's been done before. But morning’s second light, for certain. By third light at the latest. I promise!
The robot planted the rod. My grandfather’s voice fuzzed again, and I tried another surge of power, but I’d pushed it too far. My Talent slipped through, mixing with my Oculatory power. I had trouble keeping the two separate; they were like two brightly different colors of paint, mixing and churning inside of me. Use one, and some of the other always wanted to come along.
The Talent surged through my hands before I realized what I was doing, and the frames of the Lenses shattered, dropping the bits of glass off my eyes. I caught them clumsily. Unfortunately, after feeling that resistance, I knew that they wouldn't work again - not as long as those Librarian rods were interfering. I reluctantly slipped the Lenses back in my pocket.
"What did he say?" Aydee asked, anxious.
"He's coming," I replied. "With the Knights of Crystallia."
"When?" Bastille asked.
"Well . . . he wasn't really that specific. . . ." I grimaced. "He said dawn. Probably.”
"Probably?" Mallo said. "Young Smedry, I'm not certain I can stake the lives of my people on a 'probably.'"
"My grandfather is reliable,” I said. "He's never let me down."
"Except when he arrived too late to get the Sands of Rashid before the Librarians," Bastille added. "Or . . . well, when he arrived too late to stop your mother from stealing the Translator's Lenses from the Library of Alexandria. Or when he was too late to –”
"Thanks, Bastille," I said flatly. “Real helpful."
"I think we're all aware of my father’s Talent,” Kaz said, stepping up beside me. "But I know Leavenworth Smedry better than anyone else, now that Mom's dead. If my pop says he'll be here with help, you can count on him. He might be a tad late, but he'll make up for it with style.”
"Style will not protect my people from Librarian weapons," Mallo said, shaking his head. "Your help is appreciated, but your promises are flimsy."
"Please," I said. "Your Majesty, you've got to give us a chance. At least give it until morning. What do you have to lose by sleeping on it?"
"There will be no sleeping," Mallo said, nodding. “Look.”
I followed the gesture. Outside the walls, the large robots had finished planting the rods into the ground. Now they were walking over to a large pile of boulders that sat just outside of the camp.
"Our period of rest has ended,” Mallo said grimly. “They demanded our surrender, and since I've sent back no word, it seems they are going to resume their assaults. I had assumed they would wait until it was light to do so, but you know what they say about assumptions.”
"If you're going to make a donkey joke," I noted, "I did that already."
Mallo frowned at me. "No, I was going to quote an ancient Mokian proverb, revered and honored by our people over six centuries of use."
“Oh," I said, embarrassed. "I’m, sorry. How does it go?"
"'Don't make assumptions, idiot,'" Mallo quoted with a reverent voice.
"Nice proverb."
"Mokian philosophers like to get to the point," Mallo said.
"Either way, if we are going to surrender, we need to do it now. Those terrible machines of theirs will begin throwing rocks soon, and the Defender's Glass will not last much longer against the assault."
"If you give up,” Bastille said, "that is the end of Mokia."
"Please," I said. "Give us more time. Wait just a little longer!"
"Husband,” Angola said, laying a hand on his arm, "most of our people would rather die than be taken by the Librarians."
"Yes," Mallo said, "but sometimes you need to protect people even when they do not wish it. Our warriors think only of honor. But I must consider the future, and what is best for all of our people."
King Mallo's face adopted a th
oughtful expression. He folded a pair of beefy arms, one of his soldiers holding his spear for him. He stared out over the top of the wooden wall, looking at the Librarian forces.
Now, perhaps some of you reading might be thinking of Mallo as a coward for even considering surrender. That's great. Next time you're in charge of the lives of thousands of people, you can make decisions quickly if you want. But Mallo wanted to think.
It all comes back to change. Nothing stays the same, not even kingdoms. Sometimes you have to accept that.
Sometimes, though, things change too quickly for you to even think about it. What happened next is still a blur in my mind. We were standing on the wall, waiting for Mallo to make his decision. And then Librarians were there.
Apparently, they came up through a tunnel they dug that opened just inside the wall. I didn't see that. I just saw a group of bow-tied figures, charging at us along the wall, wielding guns that shot balls of light.
Kaz vanished, his Talent making him get lost.
In the blink of an eye, three Mokian soldiers were standing in front of Aydee where there had been only two, her Talent instantly bringing a man from across the wall forward to defend her.
My Talent broke a few guns, though several of the Librarians had bows, and they fired those. Bastille, moving in a blur, had her sword out in a heartbeat and was cutting arrows from the air.
Seriously. She cut them out of the air. Never play baseball against a Crystin.
The Mokian soldiers began to fight, leveling their spears, which also shot out glowing bursts of light.
It was all over in a few seconds. I was the only one who didn’t move. I had no training with real combat or war – I was just a stoopid kid who had gotten himself in over his head. By the time I thought to yelp in fear and duck, the skirmish was over, the assassins defeated.
Smoke rose in the air. Men fell still.
