To Tower of The Earth
A lton and Captains Rennard and Quille stood around one end of a rough wooden table in the dining hall, gazing down at maps.
One showed the wall and towers in detail.
The other larger map depicted Sacoridia and neighboring regions on the western and northwestern borders, namely Rhovanny and the Wanda Plains.
Mugs held down the curling corners of each map.
Newly arrived, Captain Quille of the Island Unit shook her head. “Not so long ago most had forgotten the existence of the wall and the danger it holds back. It is quite a sight.”
Once more Alton felt the weight of that neglect on his shoulders even though he had not been responsible for it. It was his forebears who had failed to keep watch and maintain the wall, but it may as well be on him.
“It makes sense to me,” Rennard said, “to situate Captain Quille’s people at the towers west of the breach, and I can pull all my people east of the breach. It would double our presence at each tower. The D’Yerian militia can then focus on the breach itself. If that is acceptable to you both?”
“Agreed,” Alton said. Though he welcomed the arrival of the Island Unit whole-heartedly, the troops would be only a brief buffer, at best, should dark Sleepers invade through the towers.
They needed more, far more, to hold off a devastating invasion, and even if the whole of the D’Yerian militia guarded the breach, it would be unable to block the hordes Mornhavon would throw at them.
“I agree, as well,” Captain Quille said. “My people will have to be fully briefed about what to expect at the towers. They are, shall we say, unsettled by the wall itself and the existence of gryphons.”
“Yes,” Alton murmured. “The gryphons are our allies and I do not want any of them shot down intentionally or not.”
“Understood,” Quille replied. “And there will be Green Riders assigned to each tower?”
“Correct. However, our Rider at Tower of the Earth can’t enter.
That one is full of magical traps set by the mage who once inhabited it.
It was how we found out about dark Sleepers in the first place.
One was trapped in there.” Alton had almost been killed both by the traps and the Sleeper.
“I’m taking Duncan down there to look around.
” He glanced toward the kitchens where the great mage leaned against the pass-through to flirt with the cooks.
Duncan’s tempes stone and leg bone lay in their pouch on the table next to the maps.
While the tempes stones of any of the tower mages could be carried from place to place, the mages could only manifest within the towers.
The bones of great mages, however, were imbued with power, and Duncan’s leg bone provided him with enough to manifest outside the towers though he must remain in a certain proximity of his pouch.
The bones of the other mages had, apparently, been properly disposed of after the passing of their physical forms. Duncan’s physical self had perished in an eyrie of the gray eagles high up in the Wingsong Mountains, where his bones remained.
Fortunately, Duncan had been more than happy to leave his father, Merdigen, in Tower of the Heavens to check out Tower of the Earth.
“You will be relieved to know that other units are emerging from their winter quarters earlier than usual,” Captain Quille said.
“The king wishes me to tell you several will be joining us immediately at the wall, so we will want to organize additional encampments and where it will be beneficial to post each unit. No doubt some extra hands and engineers will be able to assist with finishing the stockade and other defenses.”
“Good,” Alton replied. “No disrespect to Captain Rennard and his troops, but progress has been slow in that regard.”
“None taken,” Rennard replied. “You can’t expect soldiers who’ve been building all day to stand guard over the breach all night.”
“Now,” Captain Quille said, “here is the rest of the plan from the king and General Washburn.” She spilled wooden markers of various colors from a leather pouch onto the map.
A pattern emerged as she set them into place, of troops positioned to ensure supplies got through, troops strategically arrayed like waves on the ocean to back up those at the wall.
The markers clicked as she placed them in rows and groups.
“Our own regulars will be supplemented by provincial troops and allies, including, I am to understand, Eletians and p’ehdrose. We live in unusual times.”
“True words,” Rennard replied. “Legends walking the lands once more.”
They discussed strategy for a while longer before Captain Quille collected her markers and rolled up the maps.
“The important thing,” she said, “is that it’s not only a couple units and a single militia that will be responsible for stopping Mornhavon. We’ve all the king’s forces and more behind us. If Mornhavon thinks invading us will be easy, he’s in for a surprise.”
It was heartening to know, Alton thought as he stepped outside, that the aid he’d been requesting for years was finally on its way.
He paused to yawn and stretch, appreciating the cold fresh air.
It had been a productive meeting, but lengthy, and he looked forward to his ride to Tower of the Earth.
He’d invited Estral along, but she declined because, she said, she was at an important juncture in writing her book.
He frowned wondering if that were the real reason.
She said she would miss him, but he couldn’t help but feel that she was relieved he was going away for a while.
When she’d started getting quiet and pensive, he thought maybe her inability to use her voice to help mend the wall upset her.
It was easier than thinking she’d become withdrawn because he was the problem.
I can’t worry about it, he thought.
He had too much to do and, at the moment, that included taking a look at the other side of the breach.
As he approached it, he saw how the usual mist over the forest had darkened and drifted through it like probing fingers.
He wondered if the help Captain Quille said was coming would both arrive in time and prove sufficient.
Soldiers set a ladder against the repair work for him.
He climbed up, unsurprised he could see only a few yards into the forest. The mist smelled of smoke and rotting vegetation.
From multiple directions deep within the forest came the din of hammers and the crash of trees being felled.
It was difficult to tell how far off the activity was, for vapor laden air warped sound and carried it in strange ways.
The forces of Mornhavon the Black, however, were preparing to attack, even as the Sacoridians finalized plans for their defense.
When his feet were once more on the ground, he walked back toward the dining hall where Duncan awaited him on the front step.
He reflected that the Sacoridian camp was a sort of mirror image of the activity in Blackveil.
On this side of the wall there were the sounds of hammers and saws, the crash of trees, and smoke rising from burning brush piles that spoke of an industrious scene.
Unlike Blackveil, however, the air was sweetened by the scent of fresh cut lumber and no impenetrable mist blocked the sun.
He recalled his first visit to the wall five or six years ago now.
The area had been untouched for centuries, and a team of stoneworkers, laborers, and a sub-unit of D’Yerian troops had bushwhacked their way to where Shawdell the Eletian had broken the wall.
Theirs had been a stark camp. By day the stoneworkers and laborers quarried stone to repair the breach, while the soldiers cleared back the forest tree by tree and kept watch, should anything from Blackveil pass through the broken wall.
The repair work was completed with astonishing speed. Restless nights of listening to the screeches and growls of unknown creatures with only canvas tent walls to protect them inspired the stoneworkers to fill the breach with good D’Yerian granite as soon as possible.
Bob the gryphon, in his bobcat form, gulped down scraps the cooks left him a short distance from the dining hall.
The personnel around the various wall encampments had mostly become accustomed to the existence and presence of the gryphons and appreciated their protection.
In fact, several of the troops had taken to wearing gryphon badges and referred to themselves as Gryphon Company.
Unlike Mister Whiskers and his brood, however, Bob tended to keep his distance from humans.
When Alton reached Duncan, he said, “Ready to go?”
“So soon? I’ve been having a delightful time with Lydia and Patty.”
The cooks. “I’m sure,” Alton said, “you have, but it’s time to go.” He grabbed Duncan’s pouch.
“Hey, easy with that,” Duncan said. “It’s only my entire existence.”
Alton slung the strap over his shoulder and strode toward the pickets where Night Hawk awaited, Duncan hurrying to catch up.
“None of us are going to exist if we just dawdle,” Alton said.
“Who’s dawdling?” Duncan demanded. “I was imparting my secrets for a proper brisket to the ladies.”
“I’m sure you were,” Alton muttered.
After he tacked Night Hawk, they set off. The day was passing quickly and it would be dark before they reached Tower of the Earth. He reined Night Hawk onto the rough road that had been established alongside the wall and left the encampment at the breach behind.
He had hoped that Duncan would vanish into his tempes stone for the journey. Instead, the great mage rode behind him on Night Hawk, or at least he presented the illusion of doing so, and filled Alton’s ears with his opinions of the physical attributes of the various females in the encampment.
“That Captain Quille—”
“Is married,” Alton snapped, “to a major in the heavy cavalry.”
Duncan sniffed. “Well, what could a mere major have over a great mage?”
“A real body.”