Siege of Stone

by Terry Goodkind

  Energized and angry, the dragon flew above Ildakar and plunged back toward the enemy army.

  CHAPTER 65

  The screams of slaughtered soldiers, the crunch of bones, the splash of blood filled the battlefield, but the Ixax warriors uttered no sound. The titans covered a dozen paces with every stride. Their iron-shod boots crushed multiple opponents at a time, grinding enemy soldiers underfoot. Their swords decapitated ten at a time. A single blow from a gauntleted fist knocked down steadfast defensive lines.

  The Ixax destroyed hundreds, then thousands, and set their gaze on thousands more. They moved in tandem as countless enemy soldiers rallied against them, attacking with spears and swords, battering their impenetrable armor. The Ixax destroyed anyone who engaged them.

  First Commander Enoch rode up on his chalky-gray warhorse, raising his sword and yelling to the troops. “Rally! All soldiers of General Utros, rally! We have strength in numbers. Make your stand!”

  Messengers raced among the farthest ranks, and the invincible army pulled together like a living creature, tens of thousands falling into ranks and running in lockstep, perfectly trained.

  The Ixax warriors smashed forward, as if wading through waves of flesh and bone. Many opponents fell with each blow, but the ancient army did not scatter. Enoch knew they wouldn’t. He had spent his life with these men, and he’d trained them for decades. Now they were all joined by a brotherhood of blood, their families dead, lost from time. The only thing remaining to them was the victory that Utros promised, and they had faith in him.

  Battle horns sounded, and desperate orders spread like wildfire. “For the general, whatever it takes!” Enoch shouted, and thousands of voices echoed the resounding response. “For the general!”

  Two companies locked their shields together, pointed their spears, and formed a pair of phalanxes. They marched forward with precision in the face of the chaos caused by the colossal Ixax. More hardened soldiers threw themselves upon the giants, and they were summarily slain, but more came in their wake to continue the attack. And then more.

  Enoch was horrified by the casualties he saw. In the past half hour, more of his comrades had been killed than General Utros had lost in all of his military campaigns combined. But the general’s army would not retreat, nor would they surrender. Judging by the uncontrolled destruction caused by the two giants, Enoch knew the Ixax would never give up, either. He couldn’t tell whether these titans were intelligent and aware, or just mindless fighters with one purpose. The massive armored warriors would continue to fight until they had killed every enemy soldier.

  The only choice was to destroy them, no matter how much blood it cost. General Utros felt the same.

  Another fanfare sounded, and half-stone soldiers closed in from all directions, tightening the net. The two phalanxes struck the giant warriors, and when the Ixax shattered the point of the formation, the soldiers closed up and pushed ahead, jabbing with spears. The enraged giants flattened the formation, but the numbers that flooded in were becoming overwhelming. Around them, bloody, broken bodies of slain soldiers piled up like mountains.

  Astride his warhorse, Enoch bellowed orders, but the mayhem of the battlefield was simply too loud for anyone to hear him. Even so, the soldiers knew what to do. “For the general!” they cried, their voices scattered and overlapping, and as they repeated it, their shouts fell into a pattern, a rhythmic chant. “For Utros, for Utros!”

  The Ixax warriors took down more and more of the ancient soldiers, but General Utros had hundreds of thousands of fighters, all well trained and well armed, each man ready to give his life to cause even a flicker of damage against the titans. Even Enoch, who had relayed the order, stared in breathless disbelief.

  The soldiers reminded him of a swarm of ants trying to take down a much larger insect. They came forward by the thousands, throwing themselves upon the Ixax warriors. Their bodies piled up in barricades of bloody flesh, broken bones, and severed limbs, but they pressed closer to overwhelm the Ixax.

  Then more came.

  And then more.

  * * *

  Groans of dismay rippled among the spectators on the high walls as they watched the Ixax falter against the overwhelming resistance. Nathan unconsciously wrapped an arm around Elsa’s shoulder, folding her closer to him. Even as the gray dragon circled over Ildakar under some kind of command from General Utros, Nathan watched the vast army switch tactics and close in on the two juggernauts, oblivious to their own casualties. “Dear spirits, they are like locusts.”

  “More like wasps,” Elsa said, “swarming to sting their enemy.”

  At the city’s high point, the gray dragon circled, blasting fire in the air, and Nathan suddenly recognized Brom from the ancient graveyard of dragons. Nicci stood in her black dress, challenging him from the ruins of the pyramid.

  Out on the battlefield, the Ixax warriors kept slaughtering company after company of the half-stone warriors, but as the numbers turned against the two titans, Nathan’s hope began to dwindle. Enemy soldiers threw themselves upon the giants in an endless wave. They piled more and more upon the bodies of their own comrades and then began to overwhelm the two Ixax, covering them with sheer numbers.

  Fleshmancer Andre had claimed that his Ixax could each single-handedly slay a thousand or more of the enemy, and these two had done far better than that. Ten thousand, possibly even twenty thousand lay massacred. But it wasn’t enough.

  Utros’s army hacked at them with their weapons, swarming, climbing, fighting, dragging. Finally, they brought down the inhuman fighters like great lumbering beasts. The two crashed, still struggling, unable to move. The maddened ancient warriors swarmed over them, eventually pulled them to the ground, and chopped them to pieces, a thousand cuts at a time.

  Trembling on the battlements as he watched in horror, Nathan whispered, “I am so sorry for what was done to you.” His azure eyes filled with tears as he watched their end. “I hope you can find peace now. You did better than anyone could have asked.”

  * * *

  His army did exactly what the general expected them to do. The soldiers surrendered their lives without question for the cause of Emperor Kurgan and for Utros himself. First Commander Enoch unleashed their combined strength, which proved invincible, as always.

  Utros turned now to face the impregnable city walls, wanting to see Ildakar burn under the attack from the dragon. Brom had unleashed fire as he flew above the buildings, and seeing smoke in the air, Utros knew that some parts of Ildakar were ablaze.

  But not enough. The city should be an inferno by now.

  Next to him, Ava and Ruva both collapsed backward as if stabbed with invisible knives. They clutched their chests, their hearts, and Utros felt the thread of magic that bound Brom to him suddenly severed. Shortly after the army toppled both Ixax warriors, the dragon came surging back to the battlefield.

  The enormous gray beast soared toward their army. Utros braced himself, feeling disbelief build within him. “The dragon is free now. How did he break free?” He whirled to his sorceresses. “Get him back! I need that dragon.”

  Ava and Ruva frantically tried to restore their magic, but they could not. Ava said, “Your scar was only enough to create the one bond, and because Brom was not the dragon who injured you, the hold was tenuous from the start.”

  Ruva said, “Someone broke the bond.” They looked at each other, and said simultaneously, “Nicci. The sorceress Nicci must have done it.”

  The angry dragon thundered toward the huge besieging army. With beating wings that looked like axe blades in the air, Brom swooped away from Ildakar and cruised low on an attack flight. He unleashed a river of fire upon the scattering ranks of the general’s army. Columns of half-petrified soldiers turned into smoking debris. Entire companies were flattened as if by a giant hot cudgel.

  Utros had already withdrawn toward his headquarters, planning to activate the blood lens so he could announce his victory to Iron Fang in the underworld. But now th
e gray dragon came for them.

  Brom flew over the giant knot of soldiers who had converged to bring down the Ixax warriors. With blasts of acid flame, the monster ignited countless screaming men, demonstrating his might and punishing Utros and the sorceresses for what they had done.

  The dragon angled up into the air again, filling his lungs so he could dive down and unleash another incinerating assault. He was searching for Utros in particular, but because the bond was now broken, all the human forms down below looked the same. The dragon blasted rows of tents, exploding shacks and storehouses, searing the blood-soaked ground.

  The general stood near the tall oval lens crafted with the blood of innocent children. “We can’t let him damage this!” Utros yelled. “Ava, Ruva, protect it!”

  Brom swept closer, opening his jaws wide. Spotting Utros and the blood lens, he dove and unleashed a powerful gout of flame directly at the general. With a shriek, Ava and Ruva clasped each other’s hands and raised a protective wall, shaping the air into an impenetrable shield around the three of them as well as the lens. Flames washed over them, and Utros felt the searing heat in spite of his mostly numb skin.

  The invisible shield diverted the fire to either side. Behind them, the command structure erupted in flames, the wooden walls crumbling to ash within seconds. The magical shield held, though, and they were spared. The lens to the underworld remained intact.

  The dragon flew past, gushing out more fire before Brom exhausted his anger and vengeance. The ancient gray dragon had made his point.

  Utros collapsed backward to the ground. The smell of burning wood, grass, and flesh rose all around him. He stared into the sky as Brom bellowed his defiance one last time, flew high into the air, and turned north toward the mountains and Kuloth Vale.

  CHAPTER 66

  Beyond the walls of Ildakar, the siege forces reeled from the devastation. Nicci could see that the Ixax warriors and the gray dragon had struck a ringing blow to the confident enemy army, and for the first time, General Utros tasted the bitter and very real possibility of defeat.

  Returning to the ramparts near the towering main gate, Nicci looked out at the scorched enemy camp. She saw rivers of blackened soil where soldiers had been obliterated by Brom’s fire, the mounds of bodies slain by the Ixax warriors. She doubted Utros could recover from this.

  “Now is the time to press our case and demand that the general end this siege,” she said.

  Nathan stroked his chin. “I agree, although with such a defeat, he may not be in a mood for a gentlemanly discussion.”

  High Captain Stuart, standing with them on the top of the wall, was glad to see the vast army in turmoil. “As captain of the city guard, I will ride out and deliver a message to General Utros. I will insist that he negotiate an end to these useless hostilities.”

  Damon and Quentin were pleased with the suggestion, though Oron seemed skeptical. “I’d rather just kill the general once and for all. Will we be able to trust him, whatever he negotiates?”

  “We have to try, at least,” Elsa said. Olgya agreed.

  Stuart’s eyes were flintier after the surprise nighttime attack in which so many of his city guard had been killed, but now he had hope again. He took a horse, and the duma members wished him good luck as they opened one of the small gates. Sitting tall in the saddle, the high captain rode out to the enemy army, and Nicci watched as several of the half-stone soldiers met him and escorted him deeper into the damaged camp.

  Quentin said, “While we wait, let us discuss what terms we might suggest. We have to be prepared when General Utros responds.”

  Rather than convening inside the ruling tower, Nicci suggested that they gather at the pyramid, where they could watch the gates and see when Stuart returned. At the top of the plateau, the duma members worked their way up the damaged steps to the third tier. Nicci brushed dust off her black dress and stared across the burned grasslands. So many soldiers remained out there, Utros still posed an enormous threat, and he had already dispatched tens of thousands in separate exploratory armies across the Old World.

  Damon sat on the stone blocks, looking pleased. He released his gift to shift some of the rubble back into place. “We will restore Ildakar to its glory, now that we have the chance.”

  Quentin assisted, and soon the gifted duma members had cleared the rubble from where the sacrifices had been held.

  Elsa slipped her arm through Nathan’s as they climbed higher to where they could look out over the city. “We are all exhausted,” she said. “We have used so much magic to defend ourselves, but it was worth the effort. Now General Utros has to discuss terms with us. He knows how powerful we are.”

  Quentin clapped his hands as if expecting slaves to rush in at his summons. “We should have a feast! Call a day of remembrance here in Ildakar.”

  Nicci looked at the duma member with sharp annoyance. “This is not the time for celebration. Look out there!”

  Nathan sketched a rectangle in the air and created his magnifying window so they could have a better look at the row after row of powerful ancient warriors, still ready to fight, no matter how many had just been slain.

  “Look at them,” Nicci said. “We unleashed the two Ixax, the most powerful fighters the wizards of Ildakar ever created. They killed tens of thousands of the enemy, but they are gone now. The dragon fought on our behalf, and his fire incinerated thousands more, but he is also gone.” She narrowed her blue eyes. “Yes, we should be proud of the damage we just caused, but we have used our greatest weapons, and Ildakar is still under siege. By my guess, two-thirds of the enemy army still remains.” She jabbed at Nathan’s expanded view, feeling her anger. “No, it is not a time for celebrations, until the general capitulates.” The duma members were cowed into silence as she continued, “We will maintain our defenses and stand against the siege, but Ildakar isn’t just one city holding firm against an army. The whole continent is at stake.”

  “This is the greatest city in history,” Oron said with a snort. “No one is stronger than the wizards of Ildakar. If we can’t stop Utros, what chance does the rest of the world have?”

  Nicci regarded him coolly. “My point exactly. Ildakar has greater defenses than any other city, yet General Utros has us at a stalemate. That army is still more powerful than we can defeat.” She felt hardness in her heart and determination in her mind. “Ildakar cannot do this alone.”

  “I doubt even the D’Haran army could stand against a regimented force like the general’s,” Nathan muttered.

  Quentin said with a sigh, “I had hope after seeing so much destruction, but now I realize we are in just as much danger as before.”

  “High Captain Stuart will convince the general to talk,” Elsa said. “We need to make him see that there is no reason for his war anymore. There must be a way to bring peace, and then we can all thrive.”

  Nathan shifted his magnifying window toward a commotion near the center of the camp. Stiff soldiers were leading the high captain’s horse back toward the city walls. Perched on the saddle like a shocking trophy, Stuart’s head stared forward with glassy, open eyes. His mouth was slack, as if he’d been decapitated in the middle of issuing his invitation to General Utros. The enemy soldiers led the horse and its gruesome reply toward the gates of Ildakar.

  Elsa began to weep as Nathan dissolved the aperture of air.

  Nicci stared with her hard, blue eyes. “Now I am even more determined that Ildakar must not stand alone. Utros will not give up.”

  * * *

  With a pack of possessions, clean traveling boots, black dress, and the wrapped pane of glass with the preserved image of the siege army, Nicci stood in front of the damp-smelling well. “Sliph, I summon you!” She had lit two glowing balls of light, which hovered in the air, creating sharp shadows inside the enclosure. After her voice died away, she called again. “Sliph, I wish to travel.”

  The murder of High Captain Stuart had galvanized the duma members to find some other means to attack the
wounded enemy army, and Elsa had raised the possibility of grand-scale transference magic that could impact the entire army. She had an idea that might cause as much destruction as the dragon.

  Quentin and Damon fell into frenetic preparations, their eyes showing the ragged edge of panic. In an uncertain voice, Damon said, “Maybe we should consider releasing Thora again. She is a powerful sorceress.”

  “She’s also not to be trusted,” Nathan said.

  No one could argue with that, and yet the suggestion hung in the air like the rumbling echoes of thunder.

  More than ever, Nicci knew she had to rally the rest of the Old World, and she decided she would swiftly travel to other cities with her warning. Simply rallying Tanimura wouldn’t be enough. She had to form an alliance with the other lands that would be threatened by General Utros. She had turned her back on the duma, no longer interested in their endless deliberations. “I have my own mission.”

  She had gone to the isolated well hidden in the low building, and now she shouted again, impatient. “Sliph! I wish to travel.”

  Finally, the sound of bubbling silver roiled upward until the mirrorlike surface filled the well. The feminine shape emerged. “You have another mission for the cause? I demand to know whether your other work succeeded. Are we winning the revolt?”

  Nicci didn’t lie outright. “We continue to face many challenges.”

  “Where is Emperor Sulachan? Why have I not seen Lothain? I do not know you.”

  “You know me. I have traveled in you, and I must travel again. Take me to Serrimundi. I need to find our allies there and prepare them for war.”

  She knew the sliph would hear what she wanted to hear, but the silvery woman still seemed doubtful. “And they will fight for Emperor Sulachan?”

  “That is not your concern. Do you know Serrimundi? I need to travel there.”

  “I know many places, but I exist only to serve our cause. Tell Emperor Sulachan that he should travel in me. I will take him where he needs to go. I will carry him to victory.”