The Sky Knights would send help first. Not enough to do any meaningful damage to Zuhl’s army, but more than enough to provide good scouting information so Anatoly could set the best course possible. This would be a hunt and he was leading the prey. One misstep could mean ruin.
He knew where he was leading these people—most of them didn’t. If they did, they would probably refuse to leave the city. Anatoly had carefully examined all of the maps he could get of the isle, looking for very specific terrain features that he could use to his advantage in battle, or in this case, retreat. He knew the path and the destination.
His plan hinged on a scrap of dirt aptly named Fool’s Gap. He’d asked about the origins of the name and gotten a number of stories in return. One said it was so high in the mountains that it could snow you in overnight, so only a fool would make camp there. Another said it had a double meaning: first, any army that tried to hold the gap would end up getting killed by winter; and second, any army attacking an army in the gap would lose badly. One story even suggested that it was the site of an ancient battle that turned the tide of a war.
Whatever else it was, Fool’s Gap was a narrow pass that offered the only road over the mountains between central Fellenden and the eastern coast. Scouting reports confirmed that the gap narrowed to just under a hundred feet at its peak and maintained that width for nearly three hundred feet before widening into a steep descent eased by well-defined switchbacks.
If Anatoly could get his people there before Zuhl’s barbarians got to them, and if he could hold the gap, he could get the people to Shoalhaven, where they could be evacuated by ship. That’s where his plans ended and his worries began.
He stopped at a rampart to look out over the still-damaged, but rebuilding city and shook his head. So much loss and there was so much more to come. He’d seen Zuhl’s army. If Zuhl controlled the Gate, there was no stopping him.
Anatoly wished Alexander would pay him a visit. The Gates were supposed to be secure. That they weren’t was deeply troubling. More than that, he needed help. Alexander could make that happen faster than anyone else. Deal in what is, he told himself, setting out for the stables. He would need every horse in the city and more.
The stable master was a bit overwhelmed, but a brief conversation with the man satisfied Anatoly that all available horses would be put to use. He thanked him and started for the door when a Sky Knight burst in.
“Regent Grace, they said I would find you here.”
“Report,” Anatoly said.
“The Gate was still open when I flew over about an hour ago. It looks like a river of soldiers pouring out of it. The barbarians are expanding to form an enormous perimeter. I think his whole army is coming through.”
“Any hint of a unit breaking off to march on our cities?”
“No … it looks to me like he’s establishing his position.”
“Thank you,” Anatoly said. “I want a report every hour. Keep a scout over that Gate for as long as you can, but stay high.”
“Understood,” the Sky Knight said.
Anatoly walked him out of the stables, then spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, talking with people, urging them to hurry, offering guidance and reassurance even as he pressed them to flee quickly.
Between two such stops, Liam cleared his throat.
“Out with it,” Anatoly said without looking.
“Why don’t we attack before they get organized?”
“There’s no better way to get them to form up than to attack. Besides, it’s always easier to defend.”
“We could send in spies,” Oliver said.
“What do you think the Sky Knights are?”
“Well, yes, but they can’t tell you who’s in command and what they want,” Oliver said.
Anatoly frowned. “The enemy’s in command and they want to kill us.” He held up his hands, forestalling any further questions. “We aren’t going to attack because I don’t want to provoke them. I need every second I can get to move these people to safety. And we aren’t sending spies because eventually, Alexander will stop by. When he does, he’ll get better information than spies without the risk.”
“Are you sure Lord Reishi will come to you?” Oliver asked.
“He will when he hears about this,” Anatoly said, going back to the business of urging a city’s inhabitants to flee their homes.
Chapter 18
Anatoly looked down from the gatehouse at a band of barbarians twenty strong. Several had crude jewelry fashioned from human bones. Each was armed and armored in their own way with a mixture of spears, clubs, axes, and swords. They carried themselves like experienced mercenaries, accustomed to violence, happy to kill, but these men weren’t for sale.
“Send out one hundred young women and we’ll permit you to surrender.”
Anatoly stared at the men below, smug and superior in their perceived power. They were messengers for a horde like nothing the Seven Isles had ever seen and they believed they were untouchable.
“You can’t be considering their demands?” Oliver whispered harshly.
Anatoly gave him a sidelong look that could have withered a cactus.
“And once we surrender?” Anatoly yelled.
“You will serve Zuhl.”
“I see. May we consider your demands?”
“You have five minutes.”
“How generous of you,” Anatoly said.
He turned to Wizard Oliver. “Have you ever killed a man?”
“What?”
“Have you ever killed a man?”
“No … never,” Oliver said, shaking his head.
Anatoly nodded, putting his hand on the young wizard’s shoulder. “We’re about to be in a fight for our lives and I need you to be up to the task. A man’s first kill is a difficult thing. Better for it to happen in a controlled setting.”
“Wait … what are you saying?”
“I want you to kill that man down there,” Anatoly said.
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to kill them all anyway and I want you to know that you can do it before we’re up to our necks in trouble and you have to find out then.”
Oliver swallowed hard and nodded to himself. “That man just demanded a hundred women—so that he and his men could rape them. He carries a message of war and wears trophies of past kills. He’s an enemy of the Old Law,” he said, a bit tentatively, almost as if he was trying to justify what he was about to do.
“You strike first,” Anatoly said.
Oliver nodded, looking a bit stunned.
“It’ll take us some time to gather the women,” Anatoly yelled.
“It always does,” their leader said, drawing guffaws of laughter from his men.
Oliver began mumbling under his breath. He’d gone calm, detached, almost as if he was no longer fully inhabiting his own body. With a final string of foreign-sounding words, he raised his hand. Three blue shards of force shot forth, one after the next, striking the surprised barbarian commander high in the chest three times in a row, like three deep thrusts of a dagger. Disbelief morphed into terror as blood welled up into the gashes torn in his armor and spilled down onto his horse.
Before the barbarians could react to the surprise attack, Liam calmly took aim at the barbarian to the right of the dying leader and drove a crossbow bolt down into his chest, toppling him from his horse before the leader even fell. A moment later, Anatoly shouted the order and fifty archers rose from behind the rampart, firing into the enemy envoy.
“Won’t that provoke them?” Oliver asked, looking down at the carnage. The archers fired a second volley, killing the wounded and taking down the few who survived the initial attack.
“Yeah, but this’ll buy us some time,” Anatoly said. “Uncertainty can be paralyzing. I’m hoping Zuhl will hesitate when he doesn’t hear from his platoon of thugs.”
The Gate had stayed open all day and through the night. Only after the flow of men and supplies had tric
kled to a halt, did it close in the morning. Now it was well past noon.
It would take an army at least a day to move a sizable force from the Gate to the city. The last scouting report had said that the horde was beginning to divide into three units, one was heading for Breden, the second was heading for Irondale, and the third much more sizable unit was digging in at the Gate.
Most of Breden’s populace had fled west toward Wakefield. Bristol Bay’s people were fleeing south along the coast. Conner had sent word that he would flee through the Iron Oak. Not a great option, but when Anatoly looked at the map, he saw that it was the only choice that made any sense, since part of Zuhl’s army was moving north toward Irondale along the only road. Unfortunately, it would also mean that the only army that could help would be delayed.
By evening, Anatoly had gotten the bulk of the population out and on the road south with more than a little grumbling, protesting, and complaining. Most of these people had been displaced during the first invasion. They were tired of war. Anatoly understood completely, but it made absolutely no difference whatsoever. He had to order, cajole, and outright threaten people to get everyone out, or almost everyone anyway. A small number of citizens had chosen to stay behind.
Anatoly decided to put them to use. He called a public meeting late in the day, after the vast majority of the people had gone. Rumors spread that he’d called the meeting as a trick to lure people in so he could take them south by force. As a result, the turnout was limited, but enough people showed up to accomplish Anatoly’s objective.
He walked briskly into the square, taking his place on the raised stone platform, looking impatient as if he had other places to be.
“Listen up!” he said, waiting a few moments before continuing. “If you’ve chosen to stay, that’s your right and I won’t try to stop you. I’ll be leaving a company of men behind. Their mission will be to make it as costly as possible for Zuhl’s forces to hold the city. They’ll employ traps, poison, ambush, and murder to cut at Zuhl for as long as he remains here.
“If you’re staying here to fight for your home, you’ll be far more effective if you work with my soldiers, coordinate your attacks with them, help them cause maximum damage to the enemy. If you choose to work alone, do so without interfering with our efforts.”
He walked out of the square before they could accost him with questions. It was numbing to use these people as he just had. They held on to hope that they would survive if they stayed. Anatoly knew that they would not. The soldiers who had volunteered to stay all did so knowing that they would probably die in the effort. These people believed they had a chance.
He knew that he would never be able to persuade them to leave and he wasn’t about to force them … so he put them to work. He made them useful. Anatoly hated war. It was always a contest between bad and worse choices. These people would probably all die, but if their sacrifice could buy some time for those with the sense to flee, then so be it.
“What’s next?” he asked.
“I think that’s it,” Liam said.
“Some of the Sky Knights are still in the aerie, but they’ll be leaving before Zuhl’s army gets here,” Oliver said.
“Captain Iker has a regiment of cavalry deployed just outside the city,” Liam said. “Commander Blake is pushing south to establish control of the route we’ll be traveling. Most of our people have been on the road for at least an hour.”
Anatoly stopped in the middle of the street, looking around at the empty buildings. It took so much time and effort, so much care and attention to build a city … and it could all be undone in one night.
With the populace gone, the streets were eerily calm and quiet, expectant almost, as if they knew a storm was coming. He feared that this storm would wash away Fellenden entirely.
“All right, I guess there’s nothing more that we can do here. Both of you, get your gear and meet me at the stables.”
He stopped at his favorite place in the keep on his way to his quarters. It was a small balcony, just big enough for three or four people, and it was high on the west-facing wall, offering an unobstructed view of the horizon. The sun was lost behind a bank of thick grey clouds blanketing the western sky. There was still an hour of light left, enough to get to Iker’s encampment. He started to turn away when Alexander appeared.
“Hello, Anatoly.”
“Well, your timing isn’t perfect, but I’m awfully glad to see you. I’ve got a bit of a situation here.”
“Yeah, I just saw. Breden’s been overrun and it isn’t pretty—rape, torture, blood sports with the prisoners. It’s bad. I expect that unit, about ten legions, to come south to Fellenden City once they’re done there.”
“Any soldiers you can send my way?” Anatoly said.
“I just spoke to Torin and Sofia. They’re organizing a flotilla to move at least a legion to Sochi.”
“So Abigail is all right? She got Torin away from those witches?”
“She did, then things got complicated. The last Sin’Rath, a witch named Peti, is the one controlling Zuhl’s army. She charmed Abel and used him to escape to Fellenden through the Gate, then she opened it to Zuhl and charmed General Kergen, Zuhl’s military commander. With him and his senior staff under her spell, the rest of the soldiers are doing her bidding without even knowing it.”
“Huh, I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Anatoly said. “I can’t help being a bit amused that Zuhl got his army stolen. I just wish the witch hadn’t brought it here.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“You plan on telling Zuhl? I’d love to see the look on his face when he finds out. He might actually kill her for us.”
“I’m going to hold off on that,” Alexander said. “If he did kill her, he’d have exactly what he wanted, his army right in the middle of Fellenden.”
“Might slow them down a bit,” Anatoly said. “And I’m sure it would distract him for a while.”
“I have other plans for him at the moment. Abigail just arrived at the Reishi Keep with a small army of witches and a somewhat temperamental dragon. I’m headed there now. I’ll shut down the Gates, then Abigail and I are going after Ixabrax and Zuhl. Kevin is sending us a fleet of attack boats out of Southport. Bianca’s Sky Knights will fly with us, save for one wing that she’s sending to you. As soon as we’re done there, Kevin’s fleet and the rest of Bianca’s flight will head toward Fellenden.”
Alexander paused for a moment, looking down at the floor. “I can’t stop them, Anatoly.”
“I know.”
“What’s your plan?”
“Run south to Fool’s Gap, get the people through to Shoalhaven and then hold the gap. After that, I’ve got nothing.”
“I’ll let Torin know to land his soldiers there instead of Sochi,” Alexander said. “Conner is sending Corina to you with the bulk of her flight. He’s into the forest with his entire army and most of the populace of Irondale. About twenty legions of enemy soldiers will arrive there by tomorrow … we’ll see if they give chase into the forest or just take the city.
Anatoly nodded. “Sounds like you’ve got your hands full, too. How’s Isabel?”
“Alive and imprisoned, but more determined than ever.”
“I worry about her under Phane’s boot.”
“Me too, all the time,” Alexander said, holding his mentor’s eyes. “Save as many people as you can.”
Anatoly nodded as Alexander vanished. Some help was better than none, he thought.
Liam and Oliver were at the stables waiting for him when he arrived. Liam handed over the reins to his horse without a word and went to work strapping Anatoly’s pack to the saddle. Anatoly took a moment to pet the animal’s forehead and speak to her in soothing tones before mounting up and leading his two charges through the deserted streets of Fellenden City.
An officer waited for him at the south gatehouse, saluting as he passed out of the city. The gates closed as those few who remained behind made ready to defend
their home. Anatoly didn’t stop to look back until they had reached a small rise. The sun had set and the light was falling fast. The city looked like a smudge of grey and purple on the landscape in the distance.
“How are you feeling, Oliver?”
“Sad.”
Anatoly gave him a sidelong look.
“I mean, the city felt so empty.”
“Not about the city, about killing that man today.”
“Oh, that. I don’t know. I’m not sure I’ve really processed it yet.”
Anatoly swallowed the urge to make a comment, instead turning to Liam.
His squire shrugged. “The man I killed was the enemy.”
Anatoly nodded. “Well, if either of you start having problems with it, come to me.”
Both nodded silently.
Captain Iker was camped less than an hour from the city with about five thousand cavalry. His regiment was tasked with delaying the enemy long enough to get the people through Fool’s Gap. Commander Blake and his legion and a half were assigned with clearing the path, protecting the people, and preparing Fool’s Gap to hold against the barbarians. Anatoly would be remaining with Captain Iker’s unit for the time being.
His tent was ready when he arrived. He wasn’t much for all of the formality of high office, but he had to admit it was nice to have a hot meal and a warm bed waiting for him. He knew that such luxuries wouldn’t last.
The following morning, the cavalry set out at daybreak. Corina caught up to them midmorning, floating overhead with nearly seventy wyverns under her command.
“Keep the men moving,” Anatoly said, clicking to his horse.
“Yes, Regent,” Iker said.
Anatoly went to a little hill and dismounted, holding his horse’s reins firmly. Corina landed gently some distance off, but still close enough to spook the horses a bit. Anatoly handed his reins to Liam.
“Stay with the horses. Oliver, you’re with me.”
Sovereign of the Seven Isles 7: Reishi Adept Page 21
