Heir of Shandara (Book 4) (19 page)

“Of course, King Nasim, we welcome your counsel,” Cyrus said.

“My questions are for Aaron,” King Nasim said.

“I will answer any question that you have,” Aaron replied.

“My son, Jopher, speaks very highly of you. Your influence upon him has had a profound impact on the man he has become. For that, you have my thanks. However, I have serious reservations about making you the commander of the FNA.”

“I would be surprised if you didn’t have reservations,” Aaron said.

“You are Ferasdiam marked. This has given you great power. High King Amorak was also Ferasdiam marked. Is this true?” King Nasim asked.

“He was,” Aaron said, and several people gasped.

The holo image of King Nasim regarded Aaron for a moment. “There were reports of the battle where the High King could seize control of the people on the battlefield. Even against their will. Do you have the same power as the High King?”
 

Aaron met the king’s gaze. “I do,” Aaron said.

“What assurances can you give us that you will not be as Amorak was?”

“His actions already speak to this, your Grace,” Verona said. “I was there when Aaron fought the High King. Even in the face of defeat, Aaron would not control someone against their will or even if they wanted it, for that matter. I know this because I asked—no, I begged him to do so.”

There were several murmurs throughout the main hall. Aaron remembered all too well his battle with the High King.
 

“The fact of the matter is that beyond my word, there is nothing else I can do to prove that I will not use my power as the High King did,” Aaron said.

“Even in the face of defeat, you wouldn’t?” King Nasim pressed.

Aaron glanced around at all the expectant gazes as they waited for him to answer. “If the fate of Safanar hung in the balance, then I would consider it,” Aaron said.

King Nasim turned to face Cyrus. “This is too much power for one man. If we make him the commander of the Free Nations Army, we put ourselves at risk of another High King Amorak.”
 

Aaron was about to answer, but Cyrus cut him off.

“It should be known that Aaron himself brought these objections up to myself and Gavril when we spoke of his nomination,” Cyrus said.

King Nasim turned back to Aaron. “You agree this is too much power for one man?”

Aaron nodded. “In peace time, I agree. However, this is a time of war. If we’re divided, then the Zekara will defeat all of us. The FNA needs to be able to act quickly. My condition for being the commander of the FNA is that the powers bestowed upon me be revoked when the war is over. New leadership is to be established and certainly not limited to one person regardless of what race they are from.”

Approving nods came from many in the main hall—from men and Hythariam alike.

“We can’t win this war without the Alenzar’seth,” someone said.

Aaron held up his hands, and an uneasy silence settled in. “I’m a believer in the rule of law. This is no secret. I will fight the Zekara with all that I am regardless if you make me the commander of the Free Nations Army. That is my pledge to all of you here today and is part of the oath of the Safanarion Order.”

Quiet murmuring spread through the main hall and over the open comms channels. Many in the main hall gave approving nods.

Verona leaned in and spoke so only Aaron heard him. “I think you’ve won them over.”

“I was being honest,” Aaron said.

“I know, my friend. All they have to do is dare to believe.”

Prince Cyrus cleared his throat. “We will now put it to a vote for the commander of the Free Nations Army.”

It took several minutes for everyone to cast their votes, which was a somewhat new concept to many of the smaller kingdoms. A majority agreed that Aaron was the best choice. Cyrus looked at Aaron expectantly.

“I’m honored by your faith in me. My first order, and I hope this will allay the fears of those who voted against this appointment, is to establish a guideline whereby the powers of the commander of the FNA can be revoked, even during wartime. My hope is that this post will outlive me, and I want to reduce the risk of any entity entering this office if it were tyrannical in nature,” Aaron said.

If there had been any doubts as to Aaron’s intentions, they all but vanished. He meant what he said, but he also knew they had a long, difficult road ahead. Having too much power was only one of the objections that Aaron had made. He was being called upon to command the armies of the FNA and had relatively little experience when compared with someone like Gavril. The Hythariam colonel had assured him that he would learn and that Aaron had all the right instincts. Regardless, he made Gavril his second in command.

“The Zekara are within a day’s march from the city by now. In addition to our own state of readiness, we need to go over the Zekara’s capabilities,” Aaron said.

Gavril brought up his comms device and began tapping in commands. The holo display cycled through images of the Zekara. “We’ve learned a great deal from your last encounter with them. During the short battle, their cloaking abilities diminished, allowing our satellites to get a clearer image than we had before. Until then, we’d only seen the evidence of a large attack force making its way toward Rexel.”

“Do we know where they came from? Were any left behind?” Aaron asked.

“They emerged from the mountains in the north. We can trace their route but haven’t seen where their encampment was. Anyone left behind would be noncombatants,” Gavril said.

“Once the Zekara went on the move, they must have known that they couldn’t mask their presence for long. Also, if they had keystone accelerators, then they would have pounced on us already,” Verona said.

Aaron frowned. “Not necessarily. There are three reasons why that may not be the case. First, keystone accelerators require a lot of power to work. With all the equipment that the Zekara brought with them from Hytharia, their tech base must be strained. Second, they needed to gather people up to turn them into the Forsaken. Halcylon is ruthlessly practical. He won’t waste his resources if he doesn’t have to.”

“And the third reason?” Verona asked.

Aaron looked around at the others grimly. “Intimidation. He wants us to know they’re coming.”

“That was our estimation as well,” Gavril said. “We’ve sent out information about the infiltrator you encountered, along with a way to disable them without the release of the virus. It’s not proven, but we believe it will work.”

“You gleaned that much from the little bit of information we sent back to you? We destroyed the original because of the contamination risk,” Aaron said.

Gavril nodded. “That and Tanneth’s analysis.”

Aaron frowned. Tanneth hadn’t said anything about this before. He made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“The troops outside the walls will need to be agile. We need to be able to dig in and move quickly,” Gavril continued, taking them through the defenses they had built outside the city walls.
 

Thinking of the coming battle, they needed to look for opportunities to take out General Halcylon. Gavril believed that the Zekara would never surrender. The Zekara had been an elite fighting force for the Hythariam military. Should their leadership fall, there was a clear chain of command. Gavril took them through Rexel’s defenses and where they would stage their attacks. They had eight flyer-class SPTs outfitted with phase cannons. They had crystal tipped arrows in abundance. Specialized quivers had been designed to prevent the arrows from clashing together and triggering an explosion. The crystallized dust was embedded into the tips of the steel arrows, which were designed to break apart when they hit something solid.
 

“I have a suggestion. More of a hunch,” Aaron said, drawing everyone’s gaze toward him. He held up his comms device. “We’ve been working under the assumption that the Zekara are not able to listen in on our conversations through comms. I don’t know if I believe it. I think we should speak in codes for a while. We took the Zekara by surprise, but they were better prepared than I would have thought.”

“What makes you believe they can listen in?” Verona asked.

“Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that all the advantages awarded to us with the use of Hythariam technology have been compromised by the Zekara. They might not know everything we have, but we should consider the possibility and build it into our plans,” Aaron said.
 

Gavril nodded. “We’ve been training the officers on communication protocols.”

King Melchoir Nasim’s image appeared on the holo display. “My forces will be ready to strike at your command. Where will you be during the battle?”

Aaron had anticipated the question. “I will be leading strategic strikes into ranks of our enemy. Our strike force is made up of the best of the FNA and is composed from your fellow nations.”

King Nasim frowned. “As commander, I urge you to remain back and coordinate the battle on a more tactical basis.”

“As Ferasdiam marked, my place is in the fight,” Aaron said.

Gavril’s green Hythariam eyes drew up in concern. “I think the king is suggesting that when the enemy does strike that you look before you leap. Halcylon will not put his entire plan into motion at the beginning of the battle.”

This drew a chuckle from Verona. “They certainly know you, my friend.”

“Halcylon is aware of what you are capable of and will include that into his own plans,” Gavril advised.

The discussion weighed on until Aaron felt his head was likely to burst. He studied the map of the city and its outlying areas, looking for anything they could use to hold back the attack. Prince Cyrus had been preparing to defend his city from attack for months. The most insecure places were the areas that expanded beyond the city walls, including the FNA training grounds. Aaron tried to push off the gnawing feeling that the Zekara were simply going to overwhelm their forces. He knew it was fear of the coming battle. Although the Zekara had superior technology, the FNA had the combined strength from drawing upon all the people of Safanar. Prior to this meeting, Prince Cyrus had urged Aaron not to bring the De’anjard into this fight. The De’anjard, or the shields of Shandara as they were known, were attracting new recruits. They now numbered in the thousands. Since finding the weapons caches, they were well armed. Braden was doing a phenomenal job of whipping them into shape.

The meeting came to a close, and Aaron dismissed everyone but Cyrus, Gavril, and Nasim. They were the core of his advisory council. Verona left to speak to Roselyn over comms.

“There is something we haven’t considered yet. The Dragons,” Aaron said.

“What about them?” Prince Cyrus asked.

“They will be drawn to this battle because of me. I want the word spread that we are to give the Dragons support wherever they happen to be,” Aaron said.

Gavril chewed on his bottom lip. “Makes sense. You’re worried about more of them being turned into Ryakuls.”

Aaron nodded. “That and the extinction of their race.”

“What about the Eldarin?” King Nasim asked.

A sharp pull drew Aaron’s attention toward his connection to the higher planes. The Eldarin were only moments away from his thoughts. He felt their unrest in response to one of their number being subverted with the Ryakul virus.

“I don’t know,” Aaron said finally. The others waited for him to continue. “I really don’t know. One of their number is infected with the Ryakul virus, but the effect is more profound. The Eldarin are a higher-order life form. I don’t know how to help them, and at the same time I don’t want to put more of them at risk of infection.”

Prince Cyrus frowned. “What makes their risk any greater than ours?”

“I don’t mean to imply that. Colind told me that the Eldarin are able to traverse different dimensions. They are caretakers. My fear is if they all succumb to the Ryakul virus, then it would be disastrous for all life on this world and others. In essence, we’re all connected on some level,” Aaron said.

Gavril shared a glance with the others. “The Eldarin are an unknown quantity. We’ll need to observe and react as best we can then. What about the contingency plan should the city fall?”

“I may be the commander of the FNA, but I believe this decision rests entirely upon you, my Lord,” Aaron said to Cyrus.

The prince looked away from them, gazing out of the window to the palace grounds. “This fight we find ourselves in is bigger than any one nation. That much is clear. I will only give the order if all else fails.”

King Nasim took his leave of them, and the holo display winked out.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Aaron said.

Prince Cyrus nodded but didn’t say anything.

Aaron left the prince and Gavril to look for Verona. He had been locked away for hours and felt that despite all their careful planning they didn’t accomplish very much. Aaron’s hands itched to do something tangible. He wanted to see the various battlements around the city for himself and judge their state of readiness. Aaron didn’t want to think about all the lives that would be lost if the city fell, but couldn’t help it. He needed to find a way to defeat the Zekara or stall their advance. He wondered where Sarah was and resisted the urge to trace her through the bond. Aaron knew she was alive, and that was enough.