Chapter 9 #2
And the rooftop was only reachable via external stairs that could be destroyed if the second wall was ever breached. “Any news from Damon and the team?”
He nodded. “According to Leto—the earth mage that’s with them—it’s something of a maze under the mountain, though many of the tunnels and tubes are impassible.”
“Do any of them head out into Mareritten?”
“One does. It was partially collapsed, but they cleared that and went on. They’re currently, according to their last report, about twenty minutes out from re-entering that tunnel.”
Meaning they might be home before dawn, if we were lucky. “Did they have any luck uncovering what the fog was hiding?”
“Depends on what you term luck,” came the grim reply. “They weren’t able to get close enough to see what the fog hid, but they survived an encounter with a greater Mareritten force and managed to capture a Rayabar alive.”
Rayabars were basically field commanders blessed with an unusual size, strength, and intelligence, and, when in battle, fought with wildly uncontrolled, almost trance-like ferocity.
There were plenty of stories of them taking out an entire squad single-handedly, and I considered myself extremely fortunate never to have come across one in all my years of patrolling Mareritten.
“How the hell did they managed to grab one of those bastards?”
“It seems he and his command were on the way to their screened encampment, and our team managed to catch them by surprise.”
“That still doesn’t explain how they captured him alive.”
“They were light on details, but I’m presuming Damon’s magic was able to restrain him before he could take his own life.”
In truth, that was probably the only way they’d have been able to keep him alive. My scouting team, as good, as fast, and as skilled as they were, could not have countered the might of a Rayabar in full berserker mode and a full host of Mareritten. “Any injuries on our side?”
“A couple. They didn’t elaborate.”
Which could well mean that the injuries received were life threatening, but there was no point in mentioning it because no one could come to their rescue out there. Not with the Mareritt at our gates and the riders circling above.
The four of us clattered up the stairs, the metal echoing underneath us, then clambered over the parapet.
Garran motioned the guards to remain there, and we made our way through the ashes of buffel weed toward the two witches.
The smoke rising from this rooftop came from a tower of weeds situated in the middle of a softly glowing blood circle—something I could see only thanks to the fact it was currently being refreshed by the slender witch who was spelling around it.
The Prioress sat several yards away; next to her was a table on which a platter of meats and breads, a jug of mead, and a gently simmering pot of shamoke sat.
The Prioress scanned me leisurely, once again making me feel like I was being judged—probably because I was, though I suspected she greeted everyone in much the same manner, no matter how many times she’d met them previously—before her gaze rose to the burn on my head. “What in Túxn’s name happened there?”
“Got hit by acid.”
“You obviously need to duck more quickly.” Amusement lent a brief warmth to her cool, authoritative tone. “What can I do for you, Bryn?”
“Can you alter the shape of the haze layer, making it rise enough to give the drakkons cover to leave?”
“Follow the rise of the mountain at our back, you mean?”
“Yes.”
She pursed her lips for a moment, her expression thoughtful. “It can be done, but the cost will be a lessening in the potency of the current cover. We can only draw so much of our own blood before it affects our strength and our lives.”
I glanced at Garran. As much as I really wanted to say that protecting Esan was less important than getting the drakkons safely back to the aerie, I was well aware that any lessening in the smoke barrier would put the lives of those who remained in the city, looking after the needs of those defending her, in danger.
And that, in turn, made me glad it was his call, not mine.
Because there was absolutely no doubt I would have acted in favor of the drakkons.
“Define ‘lessening,’” Garran said.
“It will shorten the timeframe of its usefulness by an hour or so.”
“How much longer will the protection run right now?”
“Two, at most.”
Which isn’t all that much of a loss, I wanted to say but somehow kept it back. Not my decision, I reminded myself sternly
Garran glanced at me. “How many riders were up there when you came through?”
“Ten, but we melted six on the way down. They might have called in reinforcements by now, of course.”
“If they were going to call for reinforcements, they would have done so when our air mages blew half their number back to wherever they came from.” He returned his gaze to the Prioress. “Let’s do it. I’ll have the air mages standing by for when it fails.”
She nodded. “We will need an additional boar to fuel the magic.”
“I’ll organize for one to be brought up.”
As he stepped back and motioned one of his guards forward, my gaze rose to the smoke billowing from the rooftop.
“Is there any means of creating a portable shield along similar lines as either this smoke barrier or the one that protects the aerie? It would be handy to have something that would protect our drakkons from at least the birds, if not their acid weapons. I know Damon?—”
“Damon is a blood witch of unusual power and can achieve what few aside from myself can,” she cut in, “but unless the bonding of drakkon and fire witches is no longer a priority?—”
“And it is.”
“It would not be possible,” she continued crisply. “Beyond that, we witches are not trained—and indeed have no desire—to enter the field of war, and that is what it would take to sustain such a barrier.”
“So there is no magic?—”
“Magic will not win you this war. Only courage, strength, and the bonds of kin and love have any hope of doing that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That sounds like a prediction.”
Her eyebrows rose, lazy amusement briefly running through her expression. “Perhaps it is. Perhaps I have seen multiple possibilities and have no clear idea which one will prevail.”
“Well, here’s hoping it’s the one where we come out the winners,” Garran commented.
“Well, none of us are praying for the opposite.”
No, but the fact that the possibility of Esan losing this war very much remained on the table was not at all comforting. “How long will it take to raise the smoke?”
“It will take as long as it takes, young woman. We do not work miracles, no matter what some seem to think.”
Her tart tone had a smile tugging at my lips. “Then I will do my best to patiently wait.”
“And we all know that, when it comes to patience, your best runs to minutes rather than hours, especially now you have bonded with the most impatient of drakkons.”
Am queen , Kaia commented. I order, it should be done .
The human world doesn’t always work like that, Kaia.
Should.
With my smile growing, I thanked the Prioress for her help, then turned and left.
Garran talked to her for a few more seconds, then jogged across the roof to catch up with me.
His remaining guard clattered down in front of us, then stood to one side at the bottom of the stairs and waited, one hand wrapped lightly around the hilt of his sword.
I climbed over the parapet and motioned toward him. “The personal guards are a new development—any particular reason?”
“You could say that.” Garran’s voice was dry. “The King of Zephrine has disappeared.”
I stopped abruptly and stared at him. “What? How?”
“Apparently there was a rodent run connected to his room.”
“But why would he disappear? It makes no sense given he and his men—” I paused. “Are they still here?”
“They are. As for a reason, did he not swear vengeance on us all?”
“Well, yes, but I can’t see him personally wreaking bloody havoc. He seems more the type to send others to do his dirty work.”
“Perhaps the spectacular failure of all his careful intrigues has sent him off the deep end.”
I remembered the deeply unsettling glare he’d sent my way when we’d confronted him, and tried to rub away the chill dancing down my arms. “He surely can’t get far. He’s not an earth witch, and he has no knowledge of those tunnels.”
“We’re presuming Makki drew a map that he left with Aric.”
“Then what’s being done to recover him?”
“At the moment, very little. We dare not remove any of our earth witches from the wall until the Mareritten attack eases off, and I don’t want to run the risk of a search party getting lost, given what Leto said about it being a warren and unstable.”
“So, we just let him wander? That doesn’t seem a particularly smart move, Garran.”
“I’ve issued a capture and detain alert, and stationed guards in your room and mine. They’ll remain until he’s found.”
“And privacy be damned?”
He glanced at me, his eyebrows raised. “Better a lack of privacy than a lack of life.”
I harrumphed. He laughed and touched my shoulder. “Report once you’ve seen to your drakkon.”
I nodded and, as he walked away, ordered a couple of freshly killed boars to be brought in for the drakkons, though the sight of them consuming said boars wouldn’t do a lot to calm the nerves of those still crowding the edges of the courtyard.
It took about half an hour for the fog to begin to bleed upward, and a further fifteen minutes before a clear pathway developed between the mountain and the smoke.
When the peak high above us became visible, I removed the frayed rope from Kaia’s harness, gave her a final eye scratch, then stepped out from under her wings and shouted up orders to Miri and Halka to remain at the aerie overnight and do the morning flyover once the sun had risen.