Ahren gave a tired nod, and Falk took away his hand.
‘Good’, he said. ‘Then it will all end when HE, WHO FORCES has been conquered. And we’re far from achieving that yet.’
‘I’ll stay in the carriage and cast a strong magic net’, said Jelninolan decisively. ‘You persuade the Sun Emperor to help us, and then we’ll ride like the wind – or tomorrow morning we might be looking at a few smoking ruins, where once a city stood.’
‘Out of the question!’ shouted Justinian furiously. ‘I’m supposed to herd my exhausted legion up the mountain to defend a city that has defied them all these moons, and release a pack of traitors to boot?’ The ruler jabbed a finger towards Bergen, who was casually leaning against a side table, throwing a grape into his mouth. ‘The senate will skin me alive for that!’
‘It’s the only way we can save the Brazen City, my Emperor!’ pleaded Uldini forcefully.
They had been brought before the monarch immediately on their arrival. Uldini had presented the peace treaty to him and related the news of the imminent attack, at which point the present argument had flared into life.
‘Maybe I don’t want to save it’, said Justinian excitedly. ‘Maybe I won’t sign anything. Maybe I’ll wait until the Dark Ones have overpowered the resistance and then march in myself!’
Uldini became ashen-faced and Ahren gasped when he heard the Sun Emperor’s cold-blooded plan. The man had outlined in a few short sentences a tactic that would make him ruler of the Brazen City, and with minimum force. The loss of life and the destruction he was willing to consider made him appear inhuman.
‘You’re going to lose many of the blacksmiths’, implored Falk, and Ahren saw the ruler hesitate for a moment.
‘Right then, I’ll think about it. But I’m not going to let him, and his people fight alongside us only to have them escape at the first opportunity.’ Once again, he jabbed his finger towards Bergen, who grinned back, thus enraging the irate man even further.
Ahren was relieved that the mercenary said nothing, but he sensed that they were not making any progress. Justinian was simply too accustomed to getting his own way, and Uldini had been his advisor for too long to recognise what really needed to be done. A plan formed in the young Forest Guardian’s head, and he was determined to try it out. Everyone kept telling him he was a Paladin, and maybe it was time he behaved accordingly.
‘That’s enough!’ he cried out in a loud voice, and Justinian, Emperor of the Sunplains, not to mention Uldini, Supreme Commander of the Ancients, looked aghast at the apprentice who had so rudely interrupted them.
‘You’re behaving like a spoilt child that refuses to let go of its toy, even if it means breaking it, I mean, come on! But the Paladins will not help you!’ Ahren folded his arms, and the ruler’s eyes almost popped out of his head in amazement, while Ahren’s friends looked uneasily at the young Forest Guardian.
‘Lad…’ began Falk, but Ahren was already speaking again.
‘And I mean not only now in this battle, but never again!’ he shouted. ‘The Dark Days are coming and not a single Paladin will enter your empire to come to your defence, and I’m pretty sure the Ancients will follow our example!’ He pointed a scolding finger at Justinian, who was speechless at being lectured to in this manner. ‘You are willing to sacrifice a city to buttress your position? Then we Paladins will simply sacrifice your empire. As soon as the Dark Ones realise that you’re sitting ducks, without magic or protection, their hordes will overrun you and wipe the Sunplains off the map. The other rulers will think twice then before putting their own interests before the interests of this entire creation.’ Ahren waved his hand dismissively. ‘I congratulate you, Justinian, the Third of that Name, your attitude is going to be a useful example of selfish dereliction of duty.’ Ahren gestured the others towards him and turned towards the exit. ‘Come on’, he said derogatively, ‘I’m sure we’re needed somewhere else.’
The sweat was rolling in streams down his back as he walked towards the archway which marked the way out. If the others didn’t follow him now, he was nothing more than a petulant yob, who had lost any right to participate in any future significant decisions. With an iron will he forced his legs to take step after step but could hear no movement behind him. It was costing him a terrible effort not to turn around and look pleadingly at his friends, and his hope had almost evaporated by the time he was three paces from the exit.
Then he heard the echoing of footsteps and Falk was beside him and giving him an encouraging wink. Suddenly Khara was to his left and she nodded at him in approval. Now Ahren heard several more steps as they strode towards the door, and as he was passing over the threshold, he heard Justinian’s urgent outcry.
‘Stay still or I’ll have you all thrown into the dungeon!’ screamed the flabbergasted monarch in a strangled voice.
Relieved, Ahren spun around and fixed the thin figure with a penetrating stare. ‘If you try that, then we’ll fight our way out of here’, threatened the apprentice. ‘We are a collection of Paladins and Wizards. Either we massacre half a legion on our way out of here or your troops tear us to pieces, and you lose the support of the rest of the Ancients and Paladins when they hear about this bloodbath, not to mention your bringing about the fall of the entire creation!’
Ahren knew that he couldn’t maintain his bluff for much longer. His hands were trembling so much that he was hiding them behind his back, and he sincerely hope that the Sun Emperor was interpreting his shaking body as an indication of suppressed rage. Ahren knew that his plan would fall apart the instant Justinian ordered an attack on them, because he had no intention of sacrificing innocent people or putting his friends into mortal danger.
What followed was a staring duel between the apprentice and the Emperor that lasted for several heartbeats. The others pointedly stood close to Ahren, their hands on their weapons.
Finally, just as Ahren felt he could last no longer, the figure in the white tunic slumped dramatically. ‘Very well’, said the Emperor flatly, ‘come back in. You win.’
Ahren didn’t take in much of the discussion that followed. His body was trembling so much that he was sure his armour was rattling, and Trogadon took him good-naturedly aside and gave him copious amounts of wine, while Falk stood in front of him, so that Justinian could see no sign of the apprentice’s weakness.
‘Some day you’re going to be the death of me’, growled his master in a low voice. ‘That was a risky, not to mention arrogant strategy of yours to speak for us all. If Justinian didn’t already have such a dangerous enemy in Quin-Wa, who is both an Ancient and a Paladin, he would never have fallen for it.’
Ahren nodded absently, as he had been doing since Falk had begun lecturing him. The old Paladin seemed to realise that his protégé was incapable of absorbing information for the time being, and so saved his rebuke for later.
‘Good, so let’s get going’, announced Uldini finally, and Falk and Trogadon dragged Ahren unceremoniously out of the room. They went down the corridors of the temporary palace and then along the rows of the tents outside without saying a word.
They finally reached the stables where Selsena was being housed, and Uldini said loudly: ‘We need to pick out horses and head off immediately. Khara, be so good as to fetch Jelninolan, so she can tell us what’s awaiting us tonight. I’ll fly on ahead and warn the Brazen City because under the current circumstances they’re hardly likely to believe a messenger who’s going to ask them to admit an entire legion.’ Then his voice sank to a hoarse whisper while Khara ran off to fetch the elf. ‘And we two will have a little chat until the others arrive’, he growled to Ahren between clenched teeth and blue flashes played around his fingers.
Uldini pulled no punches as he told the apprentice what he thought of Ahren’s actions, and he really let fly. Some of his more colourful language even caused Trogadon to raise an eyebrow, but the contrite young man simply let the tirade flow over him. In his own way Uldini was just as unused to being or
dered around the place as the Sun Emperor. The young Paladin had put the Arch Wizard into an impossible position, forcing him to choose between Ahren and Justinian, and the predicament had been torture. Now he was letting it all out, and electrical discharges were darting out of the fingers and eyes of the childlike figure, forcing Falk and the dwarf hither and thither as they stamped or slapped out little fires in the smouldering straw and wood.
Finally, it all got too much for Falk. ‘I know you’re irate but we’re standing in a wooden stable in an enormous tented city. If you keep igniting little fires, you’re going to burn everything down, and I’m pretty sure that if you incinerate the Emperor’s temporary accommodation, he won’t forgive you today or tomorrow’, he said with gritted teeth, tightly holding his singed palm under his armpit.
Uldini looked away from Ahren for the first time. There was smoke everywhere and Trogadon was just throwing a pail of water over a smouldering fire. The Arch Wizard closed his mouth, gave Ahren a last murderous look, then turned around and floated in a defiant sulk out of the stable.
Ahren dared to move at last, and quickly stamped out a small fire that had been burning for some time in the straw beside his foot.
‘You do understand that your little bluff could have led to a war that might have torn Jorath asunder?’ asked Falk in a surprisingly calm voice.
Ahren nodded first, but then shook his head. ‘Justinian likes power, I understand that much. A war with the Paladins would have been of no benefit to him and the Dark Days are at hand. He needs us and he knows it.’
Falk looked at him in astonishment and Trogadon laughed uproariously. ‘Your pup is beginning to know his own worth. It’s going to become much harder for you to penetrate his stubborn head with your lectures in future’, he bellowed.
Ahren wasn’t certain if his calculations during the audience with the Sun Emperor had been completely correct, but during Uldini’s tirade he had gone through the situation again and again in his head, and the apprentice simple didn’t know what else he could have done. He suddenly felt a wave of pride coming from Selsena, and a smile appeared on his face. He looked over gratefully at the Titejunanwa, who had followed the whole episode from her box.
‘Thanks for your support, dear’, grumbled Falk, who had of course also picked up on her message. Then he went over to open the gate so that she could step out. ‘Go and get yourselves a few reliable horses. We need to ride up the switchback as quickly as possible if we want to get there before the Dark Ones.’
A short time later they stood with their saddled horses outside the stables and spotted Khara and Jelninolan running towards them.
‘What did you see?’ demanded Uldini as soon as they were within earshot, and the priestess frowned as she reached them and mounted one of the horses gracefully. ‘The Swarm Claws from Geraton are on their way, and the Glower Bear who has been on our tracks the whole time. There are also roughly three hundred Low Fangs, not to mention at least four High Fangs’, she reported anxiously.
Uldini grimaced. ‘That’s more than I’d anticipated’, he said darkly.
While the others mounted their horses, Jelninolan continued. ‘The swarm is coming from the east. They must have wintered over the sea after I had blown them out there with my storm that time. The call of the Doppler reached them as they were returning to Geraton. The Fangs are coming from the south. I’m sure they’re going to climb the face of the mountain and swarm over the walls. The Glower Bear is coming through the Plains, so he’s going to have to take the switchback.’
Uldini nodded intently. ‘I’ll grab every crossbow man and woman I can find in the legion, and I’ll handle the Swarm Claws at the northern wall. The city foot-soldiers can deal with the Low Fangs, and you, Jelninolan, stop the High Fangs and prevent the pack from coordinating their movements. Bergen and the Blue Cohorts are our trump card. They will assist wherever the walls are threatened. The rest of you join up with the Pike Carriers of the 17th legion and confront the Glower Bear.’
Ahren was amazed at the speed with which the Arch Wizard divided them up but remembered then that half of his companions had fought battles such as this a dozen times.
‘Should we not intercept the bear before he reaches the city?’ asked Ahren uncertainly. Why should they climb up to the city if they knew the Dark One would be starting his ascent from the foot of the mountain?
Falk scratched his beard and thought for a moment. ‘No’, he said finally. ‘Glower Bears may not be the best climbers, but if he’s decided on a different route for the first hundred paces of his ascent, then suddenly we’ll have him at our backs, and we’ll have to fight him from below. This way we can expect him, and with a bit of luck we’ll be able to knock him backwards down the mountain with the pikes. That won’t kill him, but hopefully it will make him withdraw temporarily at least.’
‘You must be joking, master!’ cried Ahren, and Khara too looked sceptically at the old Forest Guardian. How could a creature possibly survive a fall down the mountainside?
‘Those animals are extraordinarily tough’, explained Falk. ‘They have a thick layer of fat lying over their muscular layer. He might break a few ribs, but nothing more than that.’
Ahren’s shoulders slumped and he looked despondently down at Culhen, who was staying close beside him. You stay well back from that bear, do you hear me now? the apprentice instructed his friend, and Culhen gave no indication that he disagreed.
‘Then it’s decided’, said Uldini firmly and floated up into the air. ‘I’ll coordinate the defence and see you above. Then he flew away in a straight line towards the city skyline which soared above them in the glittering morning sunshine, blissfully unaware of what threatened to befall it.
The ascent was gruelling even on horseback. They constantly had to avoid columns of soldiers marching laboriously in step up the mountain – the very same soldiers that only the night before had scampered down the mountain at Uldini’s command.
‘They’ll be exhausted by the time they get to the top’, whispered Trogadon to Falk, so quietly that even Ahren could hardly make out what he had said.
‘I know’, said Falk in agreement. ‘But we have no choice. Every armed soldier will help, no matter how tired they are.’
‘There will be a lot of casualties’, prophesied the dwarf darkly, and Falk nodded silently.
Ahren looked with concern down at the faces of the men and women they were riding past and asked himself how many of them would live to see the next morning. No matter how great his wish was, he knew that he could only protect these people to a limited degree. These brave souls were dragging themselves up the mountain to protect other people’s lives and to take a stand against the Darkness, whose insidious grasping for the free peoples was to be felt for the first time in the upcoming battle. The most he could do was to stand by them bravely and do his bit in their quest for victory.
Around midday they overtook Bergen and the Blue Cohorts. The Paladin had set off that morning directly after his release by the Sun Emperor with the intention of getting to the Brazen City as quickly as possible, and Ahren was amazed to see how fresh the mercenaries looked, in spite of having been on their feet for almost two days in a row.
Falk had noticed this too as they passed by the troop dressed in blue with a friendly wave. ‘Bergen’s Blessing must give them amazing stamina’, he said thoughtfully. ‘No wonder they’re so famous everywhere. They are far greater than normal humans, even if they only have at tincture of the Blessing of the gods within them.’
Ahren sensed that Falk was torn between admiration and disgust. He felt the same conflict too. His experience with HIM, WHO FORCES the previous year, when the dark god had tried to tear the Blessing of the gods out of the young Paladin still affected him deeply.
‘Would you do it?’ asked Ahren quietly. ‘Share your Blessing I mean?’
Falk raised his eyebrows immediately and shook his head vehemently. ‘Absolutely not. The Blessing was not designed for normal mor
tals. The gods picked us out, and for a reason, hard though it may be to recognise. And anyway, I wouldn’t know how. I asked both Uldini and Jelninolan, and neither of them has any idea of how he managed it. And they also consider it to be as dangerous as I do.’ He glanced back over his shoulder at Bergen, who was now two hundred paces away. ‘When we’re confronting the Adversary, we’re going to need the power of the Thirteen Paladins to defeat him. If every Paladin starts handing out their Blessing, then who knows if there will be enough power left to finish the matter once and for all.’
Lost in thought they continued riding and for a brief moment the upcoming battle was forgotten.
Darkness came over the Brazen City more quickly than Ahren would have liked. He was standing on the archway that up to the previous day had boasted the city gate. Now the remains of the gate had been swept aside, and a phalanx of two hundred pike bearers, twenty men and women wide and ten rows deep effectively blocked entrance into the city. The carriers’ broad-headed pikes pointed down the mountainside, the ends of their weapons anchored three fingers deep into the ground. Falk, Trogadon and Khara were with them, while Ahren stood atop the archway with twenty carefully selected crossbow men and women. Their job was to stop any Swarm Claw outliers from diving on the those fighting at the gate, while Uldini with his fire magic, and a contingent of crossbow men and women attempted to keep the bulk of the bloodthirsty birds at bay. Ahren also hoped he might have a lucky shot and hit the Glower Bear, but he kept that thought to himself. Culhen ran here and there along the city walls in their vicinity, ready to warn of any lurking Low Fangs.
Falk looked up at Ahren, his expression serious, and nodded once. The old Paladin was the living image of a hero from the sagas, sitting on Salena’s back, bedecked in full armour and carrying shield and sword.
Ahren nodded back and tried in vain to calm his nerves. Once this was over, he was going to practise achieving the Void as hard as he could. He closed his eyes and felt the strong wind blowing into his face and through his hair.
The Brazen City Page 40
