by T. C. Edge
"Regular soldiers, then?" Kovas suggests. "Is that what you're saying?"
"Possibly, yes. Or at least, those with limited ability and skill. Very low rung gifteds, if at all."
"A promising sign, if that's the case," Kovas says. "They are probing with weak men, easily beaten. I understand what you're thinking, Amber - that this could be a ruse of some sort - but I don't see how that can be the case. More likely, they are merely saving their better fighters for a proper bout, and wasting what dross they have on these, rather less profitable, missions."
I nod. "I was actually thinking along similar lines," I say.
"Well good, that's nice to hear. We are all on the same wavelength now, I should hope. We shall see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime, you two should certainly rest. You've done plenty for tonight."
"Of course, Herald Kovas," Elian says. He looks to me, readying to leave.
I stand my ground a moment. "Um, I have a final question for you, Herald Kovas," I say.
He turns back to me, looking from the maps and papers he'd quickly turned his attention to. "Yes? What is it?" he says in his typically blunt manner.
I look at him for a few seconds, as a short silence sweeps into the room. Then, breaking my lips, I merely say, "Do you know when our main assault will be?"
I stare at him, this another test. One to see, perhaps, if he does truly trust me now. One to see if he actually has an answer.
He returns my gaze a moment, and then smiles, that grim face of his splitting into a muted, toothy grin. "Soon, Herald Amber," is all he says, not giving anything away. "Very soon."
I leave with that, the answer hardly providing me with much insight into his thinking. Whether he knows, and won't tell me, or doesn't know at all, I have no real idea. I suspect it's a mixture of both. 'Very soon' might be the only honest answer to give.
A day, or two, my instincts tell me, and we'll be marching to the city to seal its doom.
102
My eyes break from a night of strange, morbid dreams. Dreams of death and destruction, of ghouls made of fire, feasting on the flesh of man. Of my inner flame come alive, unbound by my constraints, breaking free of me once and for all and raining terror upon all who look my way.
I shake off the nightmare, my waking mind seeing it as such. Yet in my core, deep within me, the fires gleefully rumble at the thought. Oh, it was no nightmare to the blaze within, but a dream. A most wonderful, enticing fantasy.
My head begins to clear, and the sound of continued bombing reaches my ears. I reach across from the bed, and take hold of a glass of water, gulping it down to further clear away the mist, the dark thoughts that start to accost me.
As I do, I realise that it isn't the sound of the bombing I hear, but knocking upon the door outside. I blink a few times, and open my eyes wide, taking a full breath to cleanse my insides. And with a croak and a groan, I call out, "Come in."
The door to Black Thunder opens, and I hear footsteps coming my way down the short corridor. Opening the second door into my room, I see the warm and friendly old face of Alfred the Overseer appear before me. He smiles, though looks a little weary, his eyes slightly dull, his wrinkles slightly deepened.
"Morning, Amber," he says. "I trust you are well rested after last night's...activities."
I groan, feeling a little sore. Using my Fire-Blood abilities to that degree does have some impact on my muscles and body. Elian, no doubt, has learned to combat such a thing over the years. As yet, my body is still learning to deal with these strange new powers, and the strain they set upon me.
"Just enough," I say, sitting up, dressed in a comfortable nightgown. "Anything else...happen...last night, I yawn.
The Overseer smiles, his eyes glinting as they look upon me. "No more attacks or raids," he says. "But we do have some...promising news."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes. Kovas called it the final piece of the puzzle. He has called a meeting of our leaders. I think, Amber, it's time for you to rise."
I frown at him, his emphasis on the final word. "You mean..."
"Yes," he says. "It is time, Amber."
He leaves me to get dressed, which I do in record speed, rushing quickly to join him as he waits for me outside. We waste little effort on small talk, or any talk at all, that morning, moving swiftly towards the command centre, and stepping past the guards, inside.
There, already assembling and taking their seats, I find the others, a sense of anticipation in the air. All look well, barring perhaps Atlas who, with a little help from Lady Eloise, has managed to see his massive nose straightened out again. There's still plenty of bruising, and about the heaviest scowl I've ever seen on any individual on his face, but he'll heal up just fine.
Well, his face will at least. His ego may have suffered damage that not even Eloise can repair.
At the front, working to fill the interactive screen with, as the first time I came here, a map of Haven, is Kovas. He seems more animated than ever, like a wolf catching the scent of blood, his eyes almost manic in their expectation and excitement, his lips curled into a victorious grin that he seems incapable of shifting.
As the group gather into their usual spots, Herald Gailen taking his typical position in the corner and, well, looking just as rested as anyone, despite his likely restless night, Kovas turns to address us.
He draws a breath, waiting for the room to fall silent. "Good morning all," he says, even his voice taking on a less surly tone. "Last night, as you all know, we saw our lines attacked in several raids. Heralds Gailen and Amber, as well as Master Elian, were all present to dismiss the threat without too much trouble. However, we gained a lot," he says, nodding towards Gailen in great appreciation. "Herald Gailen saw to the capture of several men. Weak of mind, and yet clear of thought, they were defenceless against the Overseer." He draws a breath, his triumph seeming imminent. "We now have the final piece of the plan," he says. "This very night, we shall see to the defeat of our enemy. By morning, we will have performed the Prime's will, and brought great honour to the city of Olympus."
A few hums of interest buzz within the room. Kovas turns to the map of Haven, holding a pointer towards its centre. He begins moving it around from the core, doing so in a seemingly haphazard and random way. Confused eyes look on, waiting for an explanation.
"We have been gathering information about the city ever since our arrival, coupled with various scouting missions before we made camp," he starts. "We have added it to things we already knew about Haven, snippets we have gathered through various means over the years. One of the rumours, the pieces that interested us all when travelling here, was that of the subterranean portion of the city, not visible, of course, on this map."
He begins moving the pointer again, left and right, up and down. "Across much of the city, there is a network of tunnels and caves, part of an old system of subways and other excavated routes. They were used, for some time, by the underground faction known as the Nameless, lead by the rather charming," he coughs, "Lady Orlando, whom we met just yesterday. Almost a year ago, that faction overcame the previous rulers, rendering the city rather more vulnerable after a violent civil conflict. That, of course, is when the barbarian hordes of the Cure came to try to take advantage, a siege that came close to success, but eventually failed as the Havenites rallied."
He pulls back his pointer, turning to us fully. "The leadership, now, under the rule of Lady Orlando, is unpredictable, and that is one of the very reasons why we have come. And in these tunnels that once gave them refuge, we find our ticket in."
I look to the others, feeling a little...confused. Why all this bombardment, breaking through the walls, if we're only going to sneak in through the back door?
Another query, however, is brought to life, via the dependable lips of Lady Dianna. "Why have we waited on this, Herald Kovas?" she asks. "If you knew of these tunnels all along, then what has been the hold up in storming in?"
"I'm glad you ask, Lady Dianna," says Kovas,
purring like a grizzled older tiger. "As I said, we have gathered snippets only, incomplete information that hasn't provided the full picture. During our time here so far, I have had scouts constantly searching for a secret way in, allowing us to enter without being seen, so we can strike at them when they least expect it. Try as they might, they turned up nothing. Now, however, they don't need to."
"You...found it?" Dianna asks, leaning forward, legs crossed, intrigued. She nods, knowing. "One of the prisoners Gailen caught knows of its location," she says, voice rising in interest.
"Indeed," smiles Kovas, his gap toothed grin becoming more common a sight these days. "We were, as it happens, rather lucky. It seems not many know of the precise location of this entrance, one the Nameless used to use when little more than rebels. It stretches a fair distance outside of the city, coming up near to an old town, now no more than dust, that the rebels would use to conduct their dirty business. It will provide access to the city's underground network, one that is, frankly, bewilderingly complicated. If, that is, you don't already know the way."
He looks towards the Overseer, seemingly not willing to gloss over his fine work. "The Overseer, thankfully, has been able to dredge up a detailed map of the 'underlands', as they call it here, from the prisoner's mind. He will be able to draw it out for us, showing us precisely how to get to the core."
"And that's where we're going?" asks Dianna. "The core of the city?"
"Of course," says Kovas. "We have battered down much of their outer walls, but their inner walls remain intact. Those walls are, we have discovered, powerfully forged, bolstered over the previous months. For us to attempt to break through would risk losing a lot of lives in the process. This way, we can sneak in via our own Trojan Horse, so to speak, catch them off guard before they even know it."
He allows the information to sink in for a moment, eyeing the group to check if there are any questions. I look around, wondering the same. Avon, evidently, already knows all about this given his expression, the Overseer too after last night's operations. Atlas, of course, rarely has much to say on tactics and strategy, merely awaiting his chance to engage in a fight. Elian quietly watches on and listens, his eyes glancing occasionally back to me. Knowing, perhaps, we have quite a part to play.
Only Dianna, really, lends her voice to proceedings.
"It's quite possible, isn't it," she says, "that they'll have blocked these tunnels and underground systems? We may arrive only to find it impossible to get through. It may be a trap to get us down there, and drop the weight of the city on top of that. I wouldn't fancy even Atlas to be able to hold it up if that were the case. The myth held up the sky, of course, but our own version is, well... rather more limited."
Atlas's scowl grows a little deeper. Dianna pats him on his massive arm, a gesture to say it was just a joke. The pair, as I've seen before, get along well. I'm sure he won't take it all personally.
"They are fair concerns, Dianna," nods Kovas. "Our information does suggest that there may be certain passages blocked off. As far as we know, they no longer use these underlands, and many tunnels were intentionally blocked during their civil conflict. This, I feel, will act to our advantage."
"How so?" muses Dianna, interested.
"It will ensure that our arrival is a surprise," he tells us. "They will not be concerned by an enemy entering via such routes. And they do not yet know the true power of our Forgers, who will be able to craft us a new route without too much trouble. If needs be, we may even be able to form entirely new paths, as we have done this entire trip. Why not end where we began?" he hums happily. "There would be something rather...poetic about that."
I watch Dianna carefully, searching for any further doubts, for any deep concerns that she may have figured out. I don't see much. Instead, she begins to nod, a thin smile working onto her pale lips. "It sounds...rather good, Herald Kovas," she says. "I assume this is to be done during cover of night?"
"Yes. Tonight," says Kovas. "We will take a strong force, but will leave much of the standing army here at the base. Another force will be assembled in order to provide a diversion at the outer wall we've been targeting. We must make sure that our arrival at the heart of Inner Haven goes unseen. We will attack the fringes, therefore, to keep their border guard busy. Meanwhile," he says, looking around the room, "we shall strike."
Again, a short silence follows, time given for us all to digest the information. I scan for any thoughts, any doubts, of my own. There's a question that hasn't been posed still lingering in my mind. I clear my throat, looking at Kovas. His darkened eyes swing towards me, probably expecting me to have something to say.
"Ah, Amber," he says. "You wish to add something?"
"Er, a question," I say. "About the bombardment."
"Yes?" Kovas's voice tightens up, his easy posture starting to stiffen.
"Well, I was just wondering, why? If we're not entering the city through the broken wall, then why did we bother knocking it all down? Why was the bombing necessary?"
"To keep them busy, child," says Kovas. "And to keep them cornered." He turns to the map again, picking up his pointer. He directs it towards Outer Haven, moving it around in a spiral, then tapping firmly. "Much of these regions saw great damage in their war. Some are still in poor health, others are fully intact. We wanted to make sure, with our bombing, that the population were evacuated to Inner Haven."
Suddenly, the true nature of the plan hits me.
I look at him, feeling uneasy at what's going through my head. "The...the entire population?" I ask.
He delays, seeing my reaction. His jaw sets, lips shutting tight. There's no smile anymore, not now. I see only the darkness of the man, his true intentions coming out.
Silence. It's damning. He looks right at me with an answer in his eyes, an answer he refuses to verbalise.
Yes. The entire population will be there. Right at the heart of where we're going to strike.
I look into his eyes and see those horrible thoughts.
We're going to kill them all...
An icy tingle runs down my spine, setting a chill inside me. I notice Dianna also looking a little troubled by the insinuation. Yet this time, she doesn't raise a concern.
"Do we all understand?" Kovas says, coldly now, carefully eyeing the occupants of the room. "Do you now see what my strategy has always been?"
I stare at him, lightly shaking my head. I want to say I won't do it. That I'll have no part in the killing of innocents, of roasting alive all those citizens at the core.
I want to deny him, like I'd have done before, when we first made berth here.
But now, I know I can't.
I have chained myself to his will. I have become no more than a slave to it. If I deny him, then Jude will surely die.
What choice, in the end, do I have?
The meeting ends, a heavy stone in my gut. Soon, in mere hours time, we'll finally see the city to its death.
And I will play my part in its terrible, unforgivable murder.
103
The night is dark and cold, the moon and stars hidden behind a blanket of suffocating cloud. On the fringes of our camp, two forces gather, one much larger than the next, yet significantly less powerful.
The larger contingent have their orders: to move towards the massive breach in the outer walls of the city, begin testing what defences they have left.
Yet, they are only to tease at them, not display their full strength. It is a diversion only, the remainder of the troops set to hide, lie in wait for the signal at the city's core. And when it comes, their job is simple: move in and kill anyone who tries to flee. Close in on Inner Haven, and take out any stragglers they find.
Annihilation. That is the grievous plan.
The other team, smaller but filled with the most gifted among us, will move towards the hidden entrance to the underlands. Using the map created by the Overseer, who remains within the safety of the camp, we will venture through the network of caves and tunnels,
working our way towards the core of Inner Haven with a contingent of our most powerful warriors. There, we will lay siege to the enemy at its heart, causing disarray and mass slaughter. It is a job intended for us all, yet I know Elian and I are expected to be at the centre of it.
Oh, Kovas has shown interest in our training, all right. He's been keen to find out how far we can push it, how devastating our combined power might become. This, right here, is the very reason. This is his endgame. To set us loose up there in the heart of the city. To spread our raging fire, our unquenchable inferno, through the streets and into the buildings, feasting upon everything it meets.
The fire inside me quivers excitedly at the prospect, yet my own mind, my own consciousness, feels sick at the thought. If I do this, if I let the fires break free, there will be no going back for me. I will sell my soul to the devil, and receive Jude's life in return.
To save him, I must kill many.
To see him free, I must comply.
It is an impossible choice, yet one that's already been made. Because really, I have no choice at all. This is the path I've been set upon, the path I must now tread.
It is the dark destiny that has always beckoned me forward.
With the camp behind us still well manned with the remainder of our forces, the two different groups begin to make their way into position. Along with us, with the Heralds and the Chosen, we have the remaining Skymasters, set to help conceal us with a natural formation of thick mist, should a keen eyed Farsight be able to spot us from afar. The weather is favourable for that. On a clear night, a sudden gathering of fog might have been both conspicuous and suspicious. Tonight, with the skies burdened by cloud, and a natural mist hanging in the cold night air, our Skymasters will have little trouble masking us from those who might see.
Others accompany us too, some of our best soldiers bolstering our troop, many of them Phasers with additional gifts, those who have fought for and alongside the Heralds for many years, known and trusted by them, killers to a man. Hestia is one of them, leading the surviving members of her Fire-Bloods troop, ready to give Elian and I the support we need when the time comes.
