The women, children, and elderly had completed their evacuation a few hours before dawn, despite the stir caused by Kynell’s arrival. It was only at his urging that they reluctantly left him to descend into the dark labyrinth beneath the city. All of the access points into the tunnels had been sealed shut, guarded on the inside by the women Risen Ones. The people who now remained in the city were those men, women, and Sentries who were determined to give their lives to protect it.
Construction crews were called back from the extramural defenses, and all soldiers were ordered to their posts. Teams were soon appointed to man the siege weapons mounted at intervals along the eastern wall. The few Risen Ones who were trained in siege warfare were paired with living soldiers to conduct that aspect of the defense. Fortunately, they still had time; the stillness of the enemy’s weapons meant that the advancing army was yet out of range—something most trained eyes were already able to tell. The rest of the Risen Ones were gathered at points throughout the city, by the entrances and possible breach spots, ready to ride out in sorties or stymie the attackers if they should penetrate the walls. Final weapons checks were conducted as every soldier was equipped with a blade of some sort, even if it was a sharpened pitchfork.
A few hours after dawn, most of the soldiers, both living and Risen, stood soberly at their stations. Kynell, despite earnest requests from almost every individual in the city to be at their side, remained with the soakers, buckets at ready. His presence had given the defenders new life, but several also noticed that he had offered no promises of deliverance, nor had he chosen to manifest himself everywhere at once, as he surely could have done. He meant for the battle to proceed, leaving a few to wonder why he had bothered coming at all.
By noon the shadow was a dark, writhing mass. Massive siege weapons towered above it like bony jail-keepers. The wooden frames of trebuchets were just discernible, along with the bulky siege towers. The catapults and ballistae were not visible, but lurked behind the advance guard. As the evil vision drew closer, it was accompanied by a horrible clamor. It took a moment for the Lascombians to realize that what they were hearing was not the distant clanking of armor or even weapons; rather, it was the tortured, furious cries of the Chasmites. The sound was constant, like an agonized drone, chilling the hearts of the defenders.
As the third orb peaked in the sky, the air was marred by the sound of a whistle. The garrison on the East Wall had just enough time to duck as a small boulder went soaring over their heads and crashed into the houses below. It was immediately followed by several others. The army of Zyreio had come into range. The battle had begun.
__________
Gair rode his voyoté hard, despite Verial’s added weight. A few days after the encounter with the children on the road, they came across the remains of a wooded copse. They were not too far from Lascombe now; if his own sense of direction had not told him that, the shattered remnants of the tree trunks did. The army must have stopped to construct its engines. From the look of the raw wood and torn-up ground, they had been gone from the spot a few days at most. He was just about to spur his voyoté forward again when he heard a thoughtful harrumph from Ragger.
“What is it?”
The munkke-trophe was looking in the direction of the city. “I wonder, Captain, if we are doing the wisest thing?”
Even Verial was surprised by his question. “What else could we do?”
Ragger pursed his lips. “If we somehow make it past the attackers and into the city, what then? We join Lord Corfe and fight to the death, no doubt. But if we remain outside the walls, behind the Easterners, perhaps we could be more effective?”
Gair shifted in his saddle. “In what way? We don’t know how to fight against them.”
“You point out a weakness, sir. Also, we are very few, and they are very many. But if we go inside the walls, we become just two more soldiers—and a lady—with no tactical advantage. Out here, we may at least have the element of surprise.”
He had a point. Gair stared at the ground, mulling it over. Once they went inside—if they could make it inside—they would lose whatever small advantage they had. Yet it was a distinct possibility that they could somehow be of better service to Kynell and Corfe outside the city. But that meant more watching and waiting and less fighting, which annoyed him greatly.
From behind him, he could tell Verial was dealing with a similar struggle. “So we raced all this way just to stare at the backs of those fiends?”
He held up a hand. “Shh. I’m thinking.”
She repositioned herself and, in the process, her slender arm tightened around his waist. The ordinary movement reminded him instantly of how attractive she was; thoughts of war dissipated with ludicrous speed as he was overcome with the urge to take her hand in his. Then he recalled what she would have done with that innocent child and his passion cooled. He wanted no relationship with such a woman.
A few minutes passed as everyone sat absorbed in their own thoughts. The voyoté whined, more than ready for a rest. Gair patted his mount absent-mindedly.
“Just a little longer, girl. Bring us within sight of the army and we’ll let you rest.”
It sounded like the beginning of a plan, so they moved forward.
__________
“By the Chasm, what happened here?”
Lucio whistled as he surveyed the torn tree stumps, the scattered branches, and the dirt crisscrossed with deep ruts. “Looks like something exploded. . .ah, wait. Maybe this is what I think it is.”
“What? What are you going on about?”
“Sirin made me hear about all these old battles. In a couple of ‘em, they would build huge towers and catapults and things so they could tear up the walls of the cities they were attacking. I bet most armies don’t carry that much lumber around. Looks like this is where they got it from.”
Teehma was impressed. Lucio had listened to his teacher.
“That means we must be getting close.”
Lucio nodded. “Maybe a couple days’ walk.”
Teehma shuddered. She wasn’t anxious to encounter that horrible army again. And once they got there, what would they do? Would they be able to creep into the city? Her stomach rumbled. The food the soldier had given them seemed like a distant memory.
“I wonder how Trint and Ester are doing.”
“Hopefully better than us,” Lucio responded as he picked his way through the wood. “Not that that would take much.” He would never admit it, but he was kicking himself for leaving Sirin’s and angry at Teehma for letting him do it. But how could they have known? Nobody had been running around shouting that an army was coming to town.
“I wish we were older,” Teehma said to the ground, “then we’d know what to do.”
Her sentiment angered Lucio, though the idea had occurred to him as well. “You think the adults know how to fix this? How could a someone like Gorvy take on an army like that?”
She had to admit that Gorvy would stand no chance. But when she remembered that young man who wanted to help them find a home, she thought that maybe the adults might know what they’re doing, after all. At least, she hoped that was the case.
By the end of the day, they had moved past the torn remains of the woods. The twilight was coming fast, and although the autore season was upon them, the nights could still get very cool. Along the road, they had collected extra scraps and garments to keep them warm. They wrapped these around themselves as they staggered on.
“So do we have a plan?” Teehma asked in a whisper. It was probably unnecessary to lower her voice, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
“Find Trint and Ester.”
“Yeah, but how are we going to get into the city?”
“I don’t know. I. . .”
He stopped as a movement caught his eyes. There was something just off the road ahead of them, moving in their direction. The three lunos gave them only enough light to see that it was about their height and moving in a heavy lope. They crouched down and began to crawl into the ditch on their right. But the figure noticed them and switched its direction. Before they could retreat, it was upon them.
It was Sirin.
“There you are!” he shrieked. He looked tired, his clothes were disheveled, and his eyes had a wild look. They couldn’t tell if he was angry or triumphant, but their own surprise was so great at seeing him that they could only stare.
“Well, what have you got to say for yourselves?” He tapped his cane impatiently on the ground.
Teehma found her tongue first. “Uh. . .what are you doing here?”
Her words failed to satisfy him. “What am
I
doing here? Well, that’s a fine question. I might ask the same of you. Why are you wandering around in the dark? And where have you been these past days?”
“We ran away,” Lucio replied stoutly. “Since Trint an’ Ester found a home, we didn’t figure we’d be good for much more than slave work, anyway. Why did you follow us?”
Teehma hissed a warning at him under her breath; the stupid boy was going to turn away their only hope of food. Sirin, however, did not seem as offended as he might be. In fact, he looked sympathetic, which everyone knows is an unusual attitude for a munkke-trophe.
“You misunderstood, child. When young Vancien places charges under my care, then I mean to take care of them. I’ve been searching all over Lascombe for you. Only late last night did I hear from some irresponsible guard that he had let you out of the city. Do you know what I went through to get past that horrible army? Do you? Well, don’t ask.”
Lucio looked at the ground, abashed. “We didn’t expect you to come after us,” he muttered.
Sirin took his cane and knocked him lightly on the arm. “I wouldn’t expect so, young man. You’ve never had anybody try to chase you down—unless it was for the purpose of arresting you. But you’re worth much more than that to me.”
This brought a surprised smile to Lucio’s face. Teehma watched in amazement as his surliness vanished.
“Well, then,” Sirin went on, feigning not to notice the transformation. “What’s our plan now?”
Teehma looked in the direction of the town. Now that they had to voice it out loud to a grown-up, their rescue attempt seemed rather silly. “We were going to try to get into Lascombe, find Trint and Ester and, well, take care of them.”
“Tertio didn’t seem like a fighter to you, either?”
“Not really.”
Sirin took off his short cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. Then he gave Lucio his traveling pack, told him to open it, and distribute what he found. “Don’t underestimate Tertio. He’ll do what he needs to do to protect his family. And I suspect that Alisha has the two young ones well underground by now. The bombardment had not yet begun when I left.”
“What’s a bombardment?” Lucio asked around a mouthful of sweet roll. Munkke-trophes did not like to go without their comforts, and Sirin was no exception: he had brought a pack full of sweet rolls, jerky, cut vegetables, and jars of water. It weighed a ton.
As Lucio passed the food around, Sirin directed them to the side of the road in order to make camp. Then he began collecting kindling to start a fire. “A bombardment,” he began in a teacherly voice, “is when a series of missiles, such as rocks, boulders, sometimes dead livestock or decapitated heads, is launched by siege engines the walls of a city for the purpose of distressing, upsetting, and injuring the inhabitants of that city.”
“So. . .” Lucio paused, the gears in his head turning, “that army is already attacking Lascombe?”
“By now, it certainly is.”
Teehma was shocked. “But what about everybody in the city? What about all the children? What about. . .”
“Your young friends are most likely safe,” Sirin finished for her. “Like I said, there are underground evacuation tunnels where all the women, children, and elderly have been sent. Trint and Ester may be bored out of their minds, but they’re protected.”
Both children breathed easier at his explanation. Now it didn’t seem like such a horrible fate to be outside of the city, away from the fight.
“I admit I am at a loss as to what to do now,” the munkke-trophe continued. “If it were myself, I’d charge back in.” He shook his cane for emphasis. “But I do not relish the thought of taking you young ones back into danger.”
Lucio bridled at his words. “We’ve been in danger before! Worse than any ol’ army. Gorvy’s more dangerous than the lot of ‘em!” He waved his hand in the general direction of Gorvy.
Sirin sighed. “Gorvy is a deluded, corrupted, foolish man. And to you he was a tyrant. But don’t be foolhardy, Lucio.” His beady eyes narrowed in the firelight. “The army we face is very dark; we will need to rely on the power of the Prysm, not our own strength, to defeat it.”
Teehma bit her lip. She’d never heard Sirin talk that way before. Nor was she was excited to hear him talk that way now. “Yes, well, what can we do out here?”
“More than we can do inside, I think. I’ve, uh. . .” Here he began to awkwardly trace patterns in the dirt with his cane. “I’ve never been much for praying to Kynell in front of people. Munkke-trophes are known for their independence. But perhaps now may be a good time to start. Maybe the Prysm will provide us with an opportunity to be of some service.”