9. Pendulum Swing #2
Jhonas smiled and turned to face me, dropping the formal mask and opening his arms for a hug as I ran to him as well. “I’m so glad you’re here!” I squeaked in his ear as he lifted me off my feet for a moment.
“Me too,” he said. “It smells much better here than in a Nephilim battle camp.”
I snorted. “A truer word was never spoken.”
But then I caught Turo’s dark expression and realized I was still holding Jhonas’s arm.
Turo had always thought the siblings were far too free with me. But he’d already been well into his twenties, a Sergeant, and on the field when the three of us were together daily. He didn’t understand that these two felt like siblings to me as well.
Jhonas caught Turo’s disapproval and slipped his arm out from under my hand, but he gave me a wink as he did so. I grinned and rolled my eyes, but let him go.
Linking arms with Diadre, we walked the length of the room, towards the Council table where all the others were seated or standing near their chairs, waiting for me to approach.
“I have a lot to tell you,” I whispered to my friend as we walked together.
“About the very handsome Nephilim you brought home, I hope,” she whispered back.
I smiled, but there was a tight, possessive knot in my chest when she referred to Melek.
“That, and so much more,” I said. “Will you be free to visit this evening?”
Her smile faltered. “I hope so. We’re all on call now. War on the horizon, and all that,” she said with a shrug.
Of course. Silly me. Every fighter, warrior, and soldier in the Kingdom was either already marching to strategic positions this side of the Shadows of Shade, or awaiting the call to arms.
I hugged her arm. “Well, assuming you don’t get called out, come see me tonight after dinner,” I said. “I can’t wait to hear about everything!”
It was the last moment of levity because we reached the table and I was greeted by all the others. We all took our seats for reports and settled in to discuss how we would address the very real problem of the approaching Nephilim army …
An hour later, I hadn’t had time for angst. The debate amongst my advisors on whether to position troops within the fog of the Shadows of Shade was flying hot and fast.
“This is all moot!” Jhonas growled. “The very darkness that would hide us, will also hide our enemies. If they’re braving the Shadows, we have a lot more to worry about than trying to fight blind.”
“We have always use the Shadows strategically,” Hughes said in his thin, cracked voice.
He was the oldest on the Council—he’d served my parents and had already been old then.
Now, his body was curled and his joints swollen.
But his mind was still sharp. “Set traps and alarms. Get the Adepts in there to set trips that will alarm and draw the Shadows’ power with light when they’re triggered. ”
“No. The old strategies will not work, primarily because we don’t know how high the Shadows reach—it is more than possible that the Nephilim will simply fly over them.
” That came from Shen, a young Sergeant, being considered for Captain.
Turo swore he was the sharpest fighter in the coming ranks and was mentoring him personally.
“Even if they can’t fly to avoid Shadows complete, they can fly over obstacles.
Soldiers relying on alarms will grow lax in their patrols and other defenses. ”
“So, don’t tell the rank and file that the alarms are set.
But use the wielders to place them anyway,” Wellhurst growled.
He was not a military man. He’d been a Royal advisor for two decades, one of my mother’s favorites.
I’d never liked him. But she had always sworn that he saw things others didn’t, and his judgment should be trusted.
“I’m still unclear,” I said, frowning. “Do we have any indication yet that the Nephilim have even entered the Shadows?”
“No,” Turo said quickly. “Not yet. Their numbers on the border remain static—only growing from those approaching from behind when they can be convinced to stop fighting and march. But they will have sent trackers and scouts in so it could happen any time.” He met my eyes with a firm gaze.
“We have to decide how we’ll meet them before they’re on our doorstep.
And if, as I’m suggesting, we’re to attack rather than just defend, then it would be better to enter the Shadows ourselves, setting traps and trackers along the way to let us know if any of them get around us,” he said firmly.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I told Turo tightly. “But… I am not convinced we’re there yet. I need a few more days. ”
Wellhurst interjected quickly, “Ma’am, no one expects you to return to the front after what you’ve endured. Please don’t burden yourself with—”
“That’s not what I meant,” I said, trying not to clench my teeth. “I want greater clarity on what is happening among the Nephilim before we rush in.”
Of course, that just sparked the conversation back to whether or not the Nephilim were already planning their advance, or if they were consumed by the challenges for rank among their numbers.
“Do we know if they have any magik wielders among them that could detect our traps?” I asked.
“We didn’t sense wielders. But it’s entirely possible that their skills and gifts allow them to detect weaves or gifts in others, without the use of magik,” Turo said flatly.
I made a mental note to ask Melek. “So… we have an army still east of the Shadows and engaged in a great deal of in-fighting. Have our neighbors been defeated or only… subdued?”
The discussion went around and around, but in the end, it was clear to me.
I raised both hands to silence the growing debate among the men and shook my head.
“We’ve done what we can. Our neighboring nations cannot be relied on to create more obstacles.
But if the Nephilim are destroying themselves anyway.
I say, hold the line. Watch the Shadows.
Position ourselves for conflict, but do not move on them yet.
Who knows, maybe they’ll kill each other and save us the trouble. ”
“But Yi—Your Majesty, if they do advance suddenly, we are allowing them to choose the battlefield.”
“How so, when the Shadows protect us?”
“We have no records of Nephilim attempting to cross the Shadows before. We don’t know if that means they have tried and were turned back, or as Shen suggested, if they’re able to fly over the mists.
Who knows how high they go? Or perhaps their angelic blood gives them some other trick?
In the end, we can’t know for certain if the Shadows work against them.
So, I’d rather be certain these beasts never see Theynor soil.
Let’s take them out while they’re still on the edge of the swamp and their retreat is hindered. ”
I sighed. “I’m not saying never, General. I’m saying not yet. ”
Turo’s jaw flexed, and I saw his desire to argue but in the end, he nodded, reluctantly accepting the order. Which meant the others did as well.
I was glad when Wellhurst immediately engaged Turo in conversation. It gave me a moment to excuse myself and get out of the chamber.
I hurried because I needed to check on Gall and Istral while there was a little time before dinner.
I wasn’t fleeing.