AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bannon’s hatred for the Norukai remained unbounded. He had slain many in a blood rage at Renda Bay, and he had loathed them when they came to trade in Ildakar. When he’d foolishly challenged three Norukai near the yaxen pens, he was battered and thrown into the training pits.
The drums pounded louder, and the serpent ships drifted close to the docks at the base of the cliff. Bannon could hear the shouts of challenge from hundreds, thousands, of Norukai as they closed in on the city.
He grabbed Lila’s arm. “We have to raise the alarm, jettison the docks below, and guard these tunnels. Ildakar is under attack!”
* * *
After Elsa and the five other strike teams rode out on their mission into the huge army camp, Damon and Quentin remained in the ruling tower. The two wizards made plans, afraid they might have to launch their final solution after all. They had to be ready. Although Nicci had traveled through the sliph to spread her dire warning across the Old World, Damon knew she would never bring reinforcements here. Ildakar had to save itself.
After discussing with Sovrena Thora the possibility of restoring the shroud, the two wizards had proceeded to lay the groundwork without consulting the rest of the duma. As a shaper, Damon had worked with metals, fusing and forming a new crucible, mirrors, and guidance channels exactly like the ones used on the stair-stepped pyramid. While the other wizards of Ildakar were preoccupied with their own desperate plans, he and Quentin were pragmatic about what would truly save Ildakar. They knew their scheme would work, even if everything else failed. Elsa’s dramatic plan with transference magic would cause tremendous harm, if it succeeded, but the risk was high. And even if it worked, the destruction might not be sufficient. Again.
He and Quentin were realists.
Suddenly, Bannon burst into the ruling tower, flushed and breathless. “It’s the Norukai! Dozens of serpent ships, thousands of warriors. We have to mount a defense on the cliff.”
Lila ran beside him. “The boy is correct. The Norukai are not here to trade. They’ve come to conquer. We are under attack.”
Turning pale, Damon looked at his companion. Both wizards knew that this was why they had remained behind, while Elsa and the others rode out to place the boundary runes.
Quentin pressed a hand to his chest as if in a sudden bout of indigestion. “I always found the Norukai disgusting.”
“You should never have traded with them in the first place,” Bannon growled. “They are monsters, and they mean to kill us all. Their warriors will storm us from the river. We’ve got to stop them. We need you and your wizard’s fire. We need to activate the traps that were built into the cliffs—and we need them now.” As thoughts circled and tangled in Damon’s mind, Bannon snapped at his hesitation, “Sweet Sea Mother, can’t you hear me? There are thousands of them! They will attack the city.”
“Sound the alarms,” Quentin ordered.
Damon wiped perspiration from his brow. “Call the city. We need every remaining fighter to drive back the Norukai.”
But he had another thought. Was this not proof that they needed to raise the shroud and isolate the city? It was the only way to be certain. When the alarm bells rang through the streets, he thought they sounded like the call to the old bloodworkings at the pyramid.
Lila took Bannon’s arm, and they sprinted back to the bluff so they could fight. Remaining behind, Damon looked at Quentin and saw the same realization in his friend’s wide brown eyes. “Even if Elsa’s plan works, General Utros will retaliate. He will stop at nothing to break down our walls.” He shook his head. “And now the Norukai are swarming to our cliffs. If they get inside, the city will fall—unless we do what we must. You know we have no choice, Quentin.”
His companion nodded. “We will send out the call and summon the volunteers to the arena, and the city guard can round up as many more as we need. Gifted blood is strongest, so if they can find a few useless nobles, that would be even better. This is no time for delicacy. We have to start immediately. Shedding so much blood might take more time than we have left.”
CHAPTER 77
Prelate Verna and her companions stared in disbelief at the vast army encamped in front of Ildakar. Renn groaned, “A handful of us can’t do anything against that.” He hid behind a tree and seemed to be holding himself back. “I looked out upon that stone army for so many centuries, but I never expected them to be a threat again.”
“Our avalanche took care of thousands of them,” Zimmer said. “But from what I see down there, I doubt General Utros would even notice the loss of that expeditionary force.”
Scanning the ancient army, the burn scars on the hills, the damage done to the plain, Verna tried to imagine what had happened here. “The city fought hard against them, that’s for certain. And it looks like they have had some success.”
Captain Trevor looked pale and distraught. “We need to get inside Ildakar and find out what’s happened.”
General Zimmer heaved a great breath. “I know you want to make your way back to the city, but unless you can find a way for us to fly, wizard, we will not get through that army. Is your gift that strong?”
Renn scratched the beard stubble on his cheeks. “No.”
The gray drizzle and the clouds overhead muted the details, though the sun struggled to come out. As they watched, Verna saw the distant gates of Ildakar open, and six separate groups of fighters, like individual strike forces, rode outward in a brash and foolish sortie. “Look, they’re launching an attack.”
“Such small strike forces! Are those all the defenses Ildakar has left?” Renn said in disbelief. “They will be like tiny darts against a bull yaxen.”
They all watched the small parties race recklessly away from the walls. The six parties galloped in separate directions, heading toward different points. Reacting to this unexpected and unimpressive incursion, the large ancient army began to stir. At the lead of each Ildakaran strike force rode a gifted fighter who called up roaring winds and flashes of lightning, using magic to sweep aside the defensive lines. The six parties rode at full speed, intent on some clear goal.
“That cannot be a full-scale attack,” Zimmer said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Most of the groups are skirting the edge of the big camp, riding the perimeter. Are they trying to get away? It makes no sense.”
“Yes, it does,” Verna said, pointing. “Each of those groups has a specific target. They know where they’re going.”
The six teams galloped at breakneck speed, flailing with swords and magic, clearing away the half-petrified soldiers who closed in to stop them. Verna could tell they were avoiding direct engagement for the sake of speed. Two of the groups rode to the boundary hills along the southern edge of the valley, and two other teams went north, riding along the edge of the blackened grass.
Another strike force circled around and cut through the sparsest part of the camp toward the far end of the valley, where Verna and the others lay hidden. The gifted leader of that group formed a wedge of air, like a plow through the defending soldiers.
The last of the six teams headed straight into the
heart of Utros’s army, cutting their way into the thick of the soldiers.
Fierce lightning lanced out from all the groups, striking clustered enemy soldiers, blasting divots in the ground. Verna struggled to understand what they hoped to accomplish.
Oliver and Peretta stood together, staring, and Novice Amber said, “Can’t we do something to help? They don’t even know we’re here.”
Oliver gave a determined nod. “When we called down the avalanche, we all worked together, and look what we achieved.” He looked behind him at the gifted scholars in their party, along with the D’Haran soldiers, the handful of guards from Ildakar, and Verna’s Sisters of the Light. “We can do something. We know some spells.”
“But we don’t know what their plan is,” Sister Rhoda pointed out, “or how we can assist them.”
“We know that we should help Ildakar, no matter what,” Peretta said. “We know what side to choose.”
Renn’s voice cracked with dismay. “That’s Ildakar. If we can take action, then we must.”
The strike forces galloping along the northern and southern hills were heading swiftly to some predetermined position. One group on each side of the valley stopped halfway along the boundary hills. The defenders formed a circle around a gifted leader in the center, who began some sort of activity. Other strike forces continued riding even faster along the hills, farther from Ildakar.
The strike force closest to Verna and her hidden companions faced fierce opposition, though. The enemy ranks closed up as they charged forward, blocking the team and curtailing their progress, though they all kept fighting.
